Operation Mojave: Consternation
by DisclosedBarrel
Summary: Sequel to Aggregation. David is now the newest agent of the N.C.R., along with Courier Six. The way of the Wasteland was changing more each day, to the point where he wasn't the only one out of time. It's bad enough his position is challenged by Agent Six; he now has to put aside his rivalry and work together with him. And the arrival of a Dragonborn isn't making it any easier.
1. Meeting Courier Six

The room was a single catwalk with a vast abyss below. A terminal and a preserving chamber were at the far end. The echoing alarm still blared all around while David peeked his head over the rusted metal rails. _It was a long way down; a fall would surely be fatal,_ David thought. Redfield had begun hacking the terminal linked with the sealed chamber of sorts long and white it was with nothing much else. Marcus' hacking tool was working like a dream.

"Unseal LS chamber, eh? Yes please," General Redfield said, with a chuckle. "Yes please."

The chamber lifted Victor's organic body upright. He was very old, more so than Redfield. The beard he sported reached his waist, and he had no meat on his bones. There was no muscle mass left in his body, quite literally a walking corpse. With tubes and cables all over his body, he was an abomination – more so now than ever. His greyish skin was the only thing that was keeping his body from falling apart.

"Master Victor Kravchenko-Urlov-Detrovski Romanov, in the… Whatever's left of him that is," Redfield mocked. He had slung the BAR over his shoulder and walked closer to Victor, close enough for him to feel his monstrous breaths.

"His name is a real page turner Dad."

"Isn't it?" Redfield chortled.

Victor's natural voice was ragged and labour to ever-loving hell. "Everyone's… a… critic… Why are you… doing this? Centuries or preparation… wasted!"

"Your idea of world domination is over. For the N.C.R... For the Mojave…" Redfield said lightly, as he unsheathed Sally. "For Claire…" Sally glistened in the limited lighting.

David felt concerned over his father. "What are you doing?" David asked lightly.

"Alastair Lewis left my grandniece a little message back in 2040, something about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Savage was Conquest, Dru was War, and Richtofen was Death. All that's left is Famine."

Victor breathed heavily with heated anger. "Alastair…" he raged. "Fucking British bastard!"

"Ashford, Romanov, Savage, Richtofen… All… Must… Die!"

 _Wait is he gonna… I gotta do something!_ David thought, deciding if he should let Redfield kill Victor or stop him.

Redfield went to swing Sally at Victor, but David stopped him in his tracks as he raised Sally over his head. Sally would cleave a man like David in a single slash, from the top of the head to the crotch, but it never was meant to be. David clutched his father's forearms firmly and refused to budge. His strength was noticeably weaker when he pressed towards him against Sally's hilt, at the same time he was thankful that Redfield was also severely weakened.

"David, what are you doing?! He's the bad guy!" Redfield tossed and turned with David, fighting him over Sally.

"If there's anything I learned from you, its' that my father is _not_ vengeful!"

Redfield hesitated. "If you're not with me, you're AGAINST ME!" he roared.

"But murdering a defenceless old man? Where's the integrity in that?"

"Monsters don't deserve integrity."

"Monsters?" David had a trump card, one he thought he wouldn't have to use. Not until now. "Was he any different than Wesker?" Redfield ceased his struggles against David, but he never kept his hands off his father's grip. "He was your dad, and you still believed in him when no one else would. More importantly, you showed him respect, courtesy and even sportsmanship. If you can't donate a single brain cell to show even the slightest fraction of what you showed Wesker, then I'll lose lots of respect for you."

"You're… You're right David." Redfield let go of Sally, and David held it away from him. Making sure he doesn't reconsider. "No one's a saint these days, not even me. Can't believe how much I changed over the last two hundred years." Redfield sighed. He held out his hand for David to give him Sally. David was sceptical but let his father sheath her. Redfield walked to Victor's terminal and pressed various buttons on the keypad. "But deep down, the long forgotten Zachary Wesker demands justice."

"What are you saying?"

"I understand everything now… but I DON'T forgive them. All Horsemen of the Apocalypse must die."

"No… ruined everything! Body… degenerates… No… progenitor to cure…" he grumbled, angrily.

"Oh dear. I forgot about your infection. Between us old men, I think old age is getting to me. Like all people infected with the Prototype virus, you protohumans need weekly doses, or your body degenerates along with a fatal heart eruption. Not to mention the madness phase." Redfield breathes and exclaims with joy. "Smells like a fitting justice, wouldn't you say? Sitting in the corner, thinking about what you did wrong?"

"Dad, don't kill him! It's not worth it," David pleaded. _What_ _am I_ _doing? Protecting the life of a warmonger…_ _No..._ _I'm_ _protecting the life of a defenceless old man. A man who can't defend himself. An empty shell of one at least._

"I never did kill him; he killed himself, long ago." Redfield puts Victor back into his chamber via terminal, then hacks it one last time to a total lockdown. Victor descended slowly into the capsule, and it sealed up tight. "Your greed is your curse and your undoing, Romanov. Hope it was worth it."

From inside the chamber, Victor sounded hugely pissed; his voice was muffled though pierced through the glass. "You… will regret this… One day… I will return!" he was able to yell, the only words that could get through the thickness of the glass.

"Not this time Romanov. You returned one time too many." Redfield smashes terminal with his closed fist, with enough force to nearly destroy it. The terminal was totalled and was unresponsive. "That'll make sure no one fixes the terminal and unlocks it. Gotta give Doctor Marcus some credit, this hacking device is a b-e-a-utiful piece of hardware. Guess that was one of your mistakes, huh?"

"Dad, that's enough…"

Redfield ignored David and peered into Victor's capsule, facing him eye-to-eye through the glass. He and Victor glared at each other, so hatefully the tension in the room felt noticeably warmer. "Because of you, I spent countless years alone. I watched my family and world die – the ones I swore to protect with my life. Sarkis failed his duty as a Demigod and ruined my life all because of YOU!" he echoed loudly. "I want you to suffer the way I suffered. Poison, depression and all that in between."

"Вы пожалеете об этом, наглый щенок! Ты, чертовски лимий, американский ублюдок!"

Redfield understood every word Romanov said and he smiled. "Увидимся в аду... Романов. Наслаждайтесь пребыванием в вечном адском огне." He turned away without another word and went back to David. "We're done here."

"How are you feeling?"

"Blown off a lot of steam back there."

"Did you really have to kill him?"

"The crux of the matter is the fact I never laid a finger on him. My integrity is intact."

"What will happen now?"

"The robots and forces under House's controls will power down for a start. You should head back to the vertibird. I'm just gonna steal all of Victor's archives."

"Have fun."

"Don't worry about me, son. His database is like a candy store for my eyes. Untapped knowledge of science, science-magic and even the arcane arts even _I'm_ curious about. Yippee..."

When General Redfield and David boarded the vertibird, back into the cockpit, there was an incoming video call on Redfield's Pip-Boy. He prepared for take-off with David and uplinked the call onto the monitor screen for both of them to hear and see. Flying a vertibird and answering a Pip-boy call was worse than a death sentence. The fantastic driver he is with perfect hand-eye coordination, the primary senses of Redfield's have had degenerated, over the decades, and it showed. The vertibird was still parked.

The video call comprised of Colonel Moore on screen from back at the Dam, in his office, at his terminal. "Is Mr House still a threat?" she said with no introduction.

"He's history."

"Good. That's one problem over and done with, and just in time too, the President will be arriving at the Dam at 1700 hours. Due to our progress, he feels secure enough to stage that damned rally he's been going on about. We still have one last mission that needs doing."

"Let me hear it."

"Recently we had scouts go missing in an area west of HELIOS; I'm concerned that the Brotherhood are up to their old tricks again. Their chapter needs to be destroyed."

David intervened. "Is there any other way?"

"Don't get her started, Son…"

Moore's eye twitched, from irritation. "Don't even think about playing hero, Agent. Any Brotherhood member holds a deep grudge against the N.C.R., we cannot afford to leave any enemy alive. Especially of their calibre. Objections?"

"No Ma'am."

"Eliminate their chapter. That is all." She saluted and ended the video call.

David waved his arms about. "The idea of attacking an entire chapter is just suicide. How does she expect us to kill the Brotherhood?"

"Not all of them, just the Mojave chapter," Redfield corrected. "Hmm… To use their weakness against them. They inherit an active connection with technology, anywhere power lies you can bet they're not far behind. If they're in a bunker, we can overload their reactor – destroying their chapter. Otherwise, we'll have to do it the old fashioned way."

"Murder?"

"Genocide."

"Does it have to come down to any of that?"

"The N.C.R. and Brotherhood have been at war for thirty-six years. It won't stop anytime soon. I have my orders…"

"No one has to die."

"The more I think about it, the more I can't bring myself to doing it."

"You're the one in charge here; you make the call. Your guess is as good as mine anyway."

"We both lost so much with this pointless war… so many lives lost. I'm not doing it. More deaths will spark more until another war ensues."

"What are you going to do?"

"My problem, not yours. I worked with the Brotherhood before; I can talk to them." Redfield started the vertibird into the ignition. The bird of the skies hummed as it lifted off the ground and roared to life. "I'll drop you off at the Dam. You're wasting your time speculating what to do."

"This was not part of the job description."

"Time for you to take a break anyway. I'm sorry for bringing you along; I just don't have a use for you right now. Had no idea Moore supported the idea of wiping out the Brotherhood, the idea of mass genocide is something I want to avoid."

"Then why am I here?"

"To destroy their chapter requires a bit of espionage, something we're both suited for. We'll have a better use for you back at the Dam instead, though, since I'm not interested in waltzing in there to kill dozens of people."

"If it's those fools in power armour rest assured I fucking agree with you."

"How do you feel about handling security details?"

"Sure, why not? You know I did it before."

"Great! The President will be arriving at the Dam soon, and we can't have enough security, his protection is the N.C.R.'s top priority. I'll drop you off there now."

Redfield had dropped David back outside the visitor centre via rope down; there was no time or space to land. The activity was peaking fast, talk of the President arriving put everyone on edge as well excitement. People of the N.C.R. were flooding the Dam, just to see the President in person. Excited chatter and frantic citizens forming masses were something to be seen. Few were crying with joy.

On the way to the General's office Boone or Cass was nowhere to be seen, so much for waiting on their end. Took too long. He just went straight to the office to wait for something to turn up. Mostly just waiting in silence opposite Moore behind the desk, David just slowly died of boredom. Waiting for his dear old dad was a horrible trend. Waiting with Moore was somewhat uncomfortable, putting up with her strange motherly glares.

In the early evening Moore stopped with the paperwork and started a video call to Redfield, David was close enough to observe while he sat at the desk patiently. He wasn't hunched close or anything, just heard the conversation distinctly. "Redfield, it's Moore. What is the status of the Brotherhood?"

Redfield spoke very clearly, even though David had to lean slightly to hear him. It looked like he was intruding but it wasn't that obvious. "The Brotherhood talked me into supporting our cause," Redfield said. "Elder McNamara and I settled on a temporary truce until the Legion are fitly dealt with."

"You were supposed to DESTROY the Brotherhood! Not to negotiate with them!" she fumed. "What did you say over there?! Was it anything the Council should know of?"

"Nothing major. With the Brotherhood's assistance, we can guarantee the Dam's safety. Isn't that important for the people? He told me they have no interest in the Dam and would rather see us in control than Legion savages. We need to set aside our differences now and work on it later…"

"And you believed them?" she interrupted. "General, have you forgotten the war we've been at with these bastards?! We can't ignore the damage done…"

"In due time the N.C.R. Council will seek an audience with the Brotherhood's to resolve our differences. In the meantime, I need to set aside your personal vendetta and do what's best for the Dam."

Moore leant back in her chair, offended, more so than usual. Her nose flared and her eyes twitched. "I cannot believe you trust their word over mine! You can't expect the N.C.R. to follow your judgement when it comes to the Brotherhood. Not this time. General or not, this is quite possibly the worst command I ever heard you commence."

"For nearly a hundred years now, all the Presidents had trusted my judgements and decisions. Isn't that enough to convince you?"

"I can't answer that."

"An enemy of my enemy is my friend, Colonel. I know what I'm doing. This will be the last time we talk about your vendetta. Are we clear?"

"Crystal… Do what you will, but I will make sure the President hears about this. If negotiations fail and put our people in danger, I will hold you personally responsible." She sighed. "Setting that aside, the President will be arriving soon, and we're sure the Legion won't waste an opportunity like this. You need to get here quick."

"He's expecting me, isn't he?"

"I should hope so."

"I sent Agent Wesker to bolster our security details at the Dam."

"I was wondering why he was here." David glared at her. "You should know that Agent Haydock has just arrived also."

"Great! I can finally meet the guy stealing my jobs," David waved

"Fantastic! I'll head on over as soon as possible".

"Just please be on time, Redfield. That is all." She saluted and ended the video call.

"Any orders, Ma'am?"

"No… no," she sighed, placing her face in her hands. "Get to the visitor centre and report to Ranger Grant, he'll be in charge of security details during the President's speech. You'll be answering to him until the time being."

"Right away Ma'am."

"Dismissed Agent."

Behind the round desk in the polished reception was a dark, mid thirties, Ranger with an eye patch. He was addressing a moderately armed group of Rangers, and some were in unpowered power armour and wielded heavy weapons while the rest were masked with semiautomatic rifles. Everyone here was his subordinate.

The dark Ranger was Grant; he was talking to two people. One was a mid twenty bald man in black ranger armour; his physique wasn't anything special. With him was a woman, only a bit older than him with long dark hair. She wore primitive leather armour. It didn't seem like it was from the Mojave, it was jet black thick leather with a cloak. Looked terrifying, she had a slender sword sheathed at her side. Some plates of steel or titanium were reinforced over her chest. Her weapon, armour let alone person felt like she too was not of this wasteland and almost as if she was an outcast. Or she just had poor fashion sense and social anxiety.

David went straight to Grant at the same time two other people came out of the elevator along the left side. It was Boone and Cass. They acknowledged each other's presence through waving and smiling, but David still had a job to do and a courier to see. David knew it was Agent Six; he looked like a show-off.

Grant was expecting another Agent, just not at the actual time while he was assembling the entire group, he already had more than enough. "Ah, you must be our new soldier. I'm Ranger Grant, welcome aboard," Grant nicely said, shaking David's hand.

"Agent Wesker, sir. General Redfield asked me to help with the security details."

"Ah, that's great. I need people I can trust at a minute's notice. A strong defence is a strong offence, am I right?" Boone and Cass came over and stepped into view.

"That's why the Colonel sent another Agent your way. I also have some backup." Grant eyed up David's group and then to the other man and woman, with a confused expression. "Where's Agent Haydock?"

"Agent Six?" Grant pointed at the other man beside him. "He's right here."

David rocked up to the other Agent with a determined look and a burning desire to speak his mind, one that decided to vent some fury, since he had most of his jobs taken by a civvie. Never liked that. "You! So you're the courier getting my assignments?" The man and his woman friend glared at him with no change in their faces. "I heard a lot about you."

Haydock was confused with David's sudden accusations. "Uhm, do I know you? Mr..."

"Wesker. Agent Wesker. I was the one supposed to help the N.C.R. with these situations, and I don't appreciate being the second option to a civvie."

Grant stepped in between David and Haydock before things got hairy. David could lose his cool long before it was even there, so that was lucky for everyone. "Command will make better use with the both of you regardless. However…" He checks out the unknown woman. "I don't think we can allow a civilian to intrude on our operations. She's not a citizen at the very least."

Haydock cleared his throat, catching Grant's attention. "You get both of us or none of us. I'm not doing this without her," he sternly noted. The woman stood with her hands on her hips with a scowl.

"I can," David mumbled to himself.

Grant shifted his weight around and sighed. "All right, I'll allow it. Just don't make me regret it." Haydock nods. "You're all hired."

Haydock patted the woman's shoulder, happily. "Don't worry about us. We'll do this together."

 _I don't like this guy. I'd personally teach him a lesson for stealing my work,_ _but_ _that woman with him looks like she's on a short fuse. The way she glares is unsettling._ "I'll do what I can to help here. General Redfield will be here soon, hopefully before the President arrives. In the meantime, I've been ordered to assist with the security detail." David folded his arms.

"I suppose you two know your own strengths… just get out there. Get a feel of the crowd, have a look around for anything out of the ordinary. Do what you can to keep the President safe. Questions?"

"All right, Grant. We'll do what we can."

Grant turned to David. "Agent Wesker. I'll be overseeing the security team personally, and keeping constant contact with everyone over the radio. It's a safe bet the Legion will try something today, best prepare for anything."

"Do you have a detailed schedule for the visit?"

"Sure." Grant handed David a file with rows and rows of written notes. Actions like waking up soldiers were right at the top and ending with things like debriefings, not looking forward to that briefing at all. "Got any leads to go on?"

"Nothing is concrete yet, I'm afraid."

"Security positions?"

Grant glared at David with squinted eyes. "Have you done something like this before?"

"Once."

"Right… Rangers are stationed here at the Dam, some watching the crowd and the area's perimeter. I have snipers in the towers and a K9 unit sniffing out members of the assembly. And access to the landing platform is prohibited. Anything else?"

"I need full access to the Dam."

Grant chuckled. "I like you, kid, you're something else. I'll radio it in for you. Now get to the observation deck, it's time to hustle."

Grant led all the Rangers, Troopers and engineers to the door outside. The courier and that companion of his followed reluctantly. While Boone followed after everyone, Cass stood by David; something was still on his mind.

"Penny for your thoughts, David?"

"I don't like that guy."

"Who? Grant?"

"The Courier. The Agent."

"He looks like a decent guy."

"Doesn't look like he belongs here, and neither does that woman of his."

"Are you jealous?" Cass mocked.

David glared at Cass with a smile. "Of what exactly?"

"Stealing your thunder, getting here first, stealing your jobs. Should I go on?"

"Point taken." He relaxed and groaned. "For Christ's sakes, I used to be a point man. I'm not losing my edge to a run-of-the-mill mailman."

"You're gonna have your work cut out for you then, he's not just an ordinary courier."

"What's so special about him?"

"He's bigger than he looks. _I_ should know..." She smirked and left the visitor centre."

"Wait? What? Argh, dammit."


	2. Protecting Kimbal

Just outside the visitor centre was the viewing area, beyond that was the stage, within a modest range of a tower. David felt it was prime time for something to go down. A brief look at the file. President Kimbal's schedule said he would show up at 1730 hours with General Redfield to meet with Colonel Moore, on stage with a small group. It was half-five already.

The Courier went away from Ranger Grant to talk with his companion and came over to David with her shortly after. With the constant chatter of the bustling crowd outside made it hard to communicate.

"If we're going to be working together it would be fitting to share some ideas. Is that okay, Agent Wesker?"

Wesker. That name always leaves a sour taste in his mouth. David stared slowly at Haydock. "I can handle a security sweep on my own."

"Okay… No disrespect, Agent, Uhm..." Haydock cleared his throat and spoke softer, "If we were to share a thought or two we could get this over with quicker."

"Fair play. What's on your mind then?"

The unknown woman glared at David. "I have ideas. But I think it's best if we split up." Haydock goes to speak but is silenced by her finger on his lips. "Just listen. I have… experience with this kind of thing. The experience that will only be useful if I can move around on my own terms."

"Do I want to know where you got this experience?" Haydock asked.

She stepped closer to the Haydock, almost enough to feel his breath on her pale skin. "Trust me, William."

"William? That sounds much better than Courier now, doesn't it?"

The woman's eyes pierced hatefully at David. "What's it to you?"

"It's my business. It's my fuckin' JOB."

"Agent Wesker, is it okay for her to be excused?"

David sighed. "Do what you have to do to keep the President safe, that's all I'm asking. Just don't get reckless…" The woman became visually irritated by David's remark.

"All right, then. Go." The woman nods to William and integrates within the crowd by the staging area and disappeared.

"I will find you if I need you!" she called, most likely to William. She then goes into the crowd.

"William, was letting her loose into the crowd the best idea?"

"You got a problem with us?"

"I just don't think a civvie should be here, let alone a courier. It's not safe."

"I'm an Agent too."

"Don't get me wrong, you're doing a bang-up job, only it's my job to protect the team. You and your friend look like magnets for trouble. Just sayin'."

"Is being a major dick one of your jobs?"

David snickered. "You wouldn't want to roast me, dude. I spit fire."

William paused a moment. "Roast? Whatever. This courier has a few tricks up his sleeve, you'll see." He walks to Grant with David close behind him. Grant hardly looked back from his radio. "Grant. I need you to let your men know, that my companion acts on my behalf."

Grant glared at William. "That's a tall order. Even if I do that, I can't promise they'll work with her."

 _That was to be expected._ "I understand. Just do it. She knows what she's doing."

Grant sighed and tugged his shoulder. "All right, all right. It's your ass on the line if she fucks up," he bitterly added. "Anything else?"

"Where can I find the personnel records?"

Grant just squinted eyes in disgust and folded his arms. "Our men are trustworthy. We have periodic screenings of everyone here, and all group leaders report every individual under their command."

"Right. I don't doubt the integrity of your men. Nonetheless, a fresh perspective can't hurt. So, Ranger… the records," he sternly continued, "where do I find them?"

For a time it almost seemed as if Grant would refuse to cooperate, as he simply stood and glared at William. Then he finally shook his head with an irritated look in his eyes and pointed to the visitor centre behind him. "The terminal at reception." William nods and leaves. "Christ, I don't get paid enough for this."

"This guy is really putting his nose where it doesn't belong. Nosey civilians..." David said, looking to Boone. "Now it's my turn."

"What is it?"

"Stay here with Grant and keep an eye on the towers."

"That's what I thought. No problem." Boone stood by Grant, patiently. He slung his Hunting rifle over his shoulder and watched the crowd like a hawk.

David turned to Cass. "Cass, mind if you…"

"Keep an eye on the crowd? Sure," she interrupted. Cass walked by David and kisses his cheek. "I'll just blend on in anyway. My type of people." She strayed off and fully integrates into the crowd, not to be seen by the naked eye as the woman before.

"What are you going to do, David?" Boone naively said.

"I'll keep an eye on things from the landing pad…"

Boone smirked. "Without me to spot for you?"

"Give me a break; I can snipe!"

From the ledge, David overlooked the entire crowd, all but that strange woman. With his hunting rifle close by the building began to shake with the beating rotors of the sudden arrival of Redfield's vertibird. The President has landed. Redfield held a long pole with a vast flag of the N.C.R.'s two-headed bear. He led President Kimbal and Moore in a line towards the stage with a small group of soldiers playing the N.C.R.'s fanfare. It was like the old America's national anthem only with a twist. The President has aged a small degree compared to his portrait back in the General's office.

On the stage, during Moore's brief introduction William found his way to the landing pad behind David. He noticed William but hoped he'd just do whatever he's doing and leave. He didn't, no matter how much David wanted him to fuck off kindly, it wasn't meant to be.

"David?"

"Dammit..." David mumbled to himself. "What do you want?"

"I think the Legion sabotaged the President's vertibird…"

David focused his attention on William. "That's impossible. There was no one up here apart from me. If someone subverted _General Redfield's_ vertibird, I'd know about it."

"It was an engineer. I'll find the sabotage. Something seems fishy." William went off to thoroughly examine the vertibird's hull. The outside was smooth and was almost pristine.

"Knock yourself out. Figuratively and literally."

After minutes of listening to the President's boring speech that just went on and on to the point of falling asleep the thrill of the event was dragging lower and lower ever more. Cass waved to David on finding nothing and Boone weren't any more successful than her. That left William and his bitch. Overhearing William exclaiming, he came over to David with a C-4 explosive and shown it to him. He was just getting cocky and persistent.

"David."

David furiously faces William and sees the C-4 in his hand. "Jesus Christ! Get that out of my face!"

"Don't worry; it's disarmed. I found it latched onto the vertibird."

"What? Seriously? You best go to report to Grant." David breathed heavily, having to actually thank someone he didn't care for was the hardest thing he had to do all day. "Not a bad pair of eyes you got there, Will."

"Thanks… I guess."

"That was a compliment."

"I know," William sneered.

A satisfied William slid down the ladder to the observation deck to Grant. It seemed he flagged William over t first but thankfully glad it was disarmed. David showed up behind William over by the radio back to Boone.

At some point, Grant got confused when that unknown woman came calling to him on the radio.

She was calling for Will. "Agent Haydock, I got a call on the radio. Your companion is at the watchtower behind the stage, and she asked you to come. She refused to say what it was all about, only that she needed you."

"Thank you. I'll go get her now." He hustled to the watchtower straight away.

David walks by Boone. "Found anything?" Boone said.

"William found a C-4 on the vertibird, don't worry. I didn't see anything, though."

"That makes two of us. I did see that guy's companion on the watchtower behind the stage doing something, but I couldn't make heads or tails out of it."

Grant picked up on their conversation. "What did you see?"

"She was talking to someone. Then there was a fight."

"A spy maybe?"

"That's it; I'm cancelling the President's speech. We'll have a security team sweep the area; I'm not taking any chances."

Redfield and some Rangers on stage quickly escorted Kimbal off the stage and sped back to the vertibird. The viewers and guests all started to scatter, apart from Cass who quickly regrouped with David and Boone.

"That went well," she sarcastically said, brushing her hands as if she was helping.

"Now the President can vacate the area safely and quickly. Thanks to all of you."

William and his companion were walking with an N.C.R. Ranger from the tower towards the viewing area. The Ranger was red with rage from being tied with rope. The woman was dragging him towards a group of N.C.R. engineers.

David came down and confronted them to ask why they were manhandling a Ranger. Just wasn't right. "W-T-F, William?"

"Don't fret. The Ranger's a spy, and we're looking for another dressed as an engineer."

"That can't be right…" Boone comes over. "Boone, care to pitch in?"

"It's true David. I saw THAT snake attacking her on top of the tower. I was going to shoot, but she took him down."

"For true? Damn… That's all well and good, let's find this other spy."

The woman pokes William. "William, look!"

She had pointed to an equally frustrated N.C.R. engineer. Specifically, she was looking for an engineer staring at the vertibird with a steamed look upon his face. In his hand was what William would guess, a detonator, and he was pressing it repeatedly to no avail.

Wordlessly, David walked towards him with William and their companions backing them up. They would all witness the total failure of the Legion's plan. While they approached, the engineer finally seemed to realise that the C-4 has been disarmed, and also had a hard time containing his blistering anger.

David knew William had the situation under control, so he went back to the visitor centre with Boone and Cass, he was feeling tired. William smugly stood up to the engineer and shown the disarmed C-4 from his bag and began to wave it slowly to him; mocking him, making a point. The engineer froze on the spot. His eyes separated from the C-4 to William, to his captured compatriot, until resting on the strange woman. With a determined look in his eye, the engineer reached into his jumpsuit and pulled out a Browning HP.

Shouting "True to Caesar!" at the top of his lungs, he opened fire. Not at William or David, but at his compatriot. As the infiltrator slumped to the ground, the spy continued his gunfire at the woman. With a pained yelp in pain, she tumbled backwards to the ground.

Both William and David counted three shots before they could draw their sidearms. Cursing himself for not expecting a weapon, William furiously placed a .44 magnum shot between the spy's eyes. William could never forgive himself if something happened to his companion.

"Lyannah!" William cried, lifting her off the ground.

David rushed over to William's side but reluctantly stopped in his tracks, burdened with the grief of not helping sooner and missing the chance to help someone in peril. His one and only job failed to some aspect for today.

In William's arms, Lyannah breathed for air, still having enough strength to sit up she dulled the pain with a groan. Her plated armour covering her torso was marked with three bullet prints, chipping the black paint. William helped Lyannah back on her feet and was relieved to see that she was hurt but still alive and well.

Though it was no doubt a painful experience for anyone, none of the 9mm punched through. Wasn't much David could do to help. The Legion infiltrators were already dead. Made sense, the Legion would never let themselves be captured. Lyannah was merely the closest target after his partner. To everyone's annoyance, the work wasn't over yet; there was the debriefing to attend to, which involved both William's party and David's, to account for their actions that day.

The debriefing was a complete bore to everyone, just showed how important the event was to the N.C.R. moral, seemed important and equally uneventful, from all the damn boredom. Behind the podium were speakers, alternating between General Redfield and Colonel Moore, both stating the President's safety, and the confirmation of the second battle approaching Hoover Dam the day after tomorrow. Apparently, it was all or nothing.

David hated debriefings, hearing everything he already knows from an alleged captain obvious, in this case, it was his father – again. Would settle for an after-battle report, like parking tickets they can just be filed away, that was before the War when driving was a thing. He could bet no one knows how to drive.

After the debriefings, the soldiers dispersed on their way to prepare for the battle. Boone and Cass were caught in the crowd and eventually wandered off out of the briefing room, without David. William and Lyannah were the first ones out like a bat out of hell. David never saw anyone so eager to leave the debriefing.

David was stopped by Redfield just as everyone left, for a private chat. They stood exactly, and the mood was sombre. Neither of them cared, they shared a smile as father and son. "You would not believe how hard it is to be me right now, Son."

"Tell me about it. I'm the son of a legendary hero and a Demigod, and I can't even brag about it."

"Funny… Gloating is beneath us."

"You know, that got me to thinking. With all this Sarkis malarkey, maybe _I_ have powers, but I just don't realise it yet."

"A likely story, but there's two problems. You were born _before_ I was exalted not after and I'm the motherfucker here, not Sarkis."

"Ah, Dad, why did you have to say it like that?"

"It's technically true. How are you doing, anyway?"

"Other than dying a little inside, I'm honestly not feeling good right now." David whined, "Is there really another battle this Thursday?"

"Unfortunately speaking. I'm just as surprised as you are."

"I'm having one of those days where I should have stayed in bed." David slouched against the wall behind him.

"Is there something, in particular, bothering you? You can't hide your feelings from me, Son."

"Lyannah…" David looked away, "I couldn't help her."

"I heard. Lyannah got hurt fairly bad, didn't she?"

"Yeah." David slowly rolled his eyes back to Redfield's. "I never felt so useless."

"You're anything but useless," Redfield warmly said, placing his hand on his son's right shoulder. "You honestly just need to start seeing eye-to-eye more."

"I'll try," David moaned, removing Redfield's caring hand from his shoulder. "Why is she and that William even here? This isn't a place for civvies to get nosey."

"She and William are a package deal, we needed his help, and he refused to leave her behind."

"What do you even know about her?"

"Granted, I know nothing about her, and I'm willing to admit that. I do feel something off about her. I don't thinks she's from Earthly origins."

David scoffs in disbelief. "So she's an alien?" _She'd be a hot one though..._

"Seriously, David, I'm not joking. There is more to our universe that meets the human eyes."

"I thought the universe was everything."

"Oh boy," Redfield breathed, sitting down on a chair opposite David. His legs were getting tired from the constant standing on them and all anyway, had to cross them over sooner or later. He was an old man; old men can't be left standing around all day. "That is a common misconception of the parochial mind. Remember? Science tells us what to believe, and that's why it is the logical answer because it's expected, all because it's a fact from their race. You, humans and all that shit."

"Naturally."

"The limitation of the human mind only sees one universe, OUR universe. Every second, old universes are dying and new ones being born again. That's a fact. Each one is completely different than the rest, and inside them are countless solar systems and galaxies and all that other shit. In our one is Lyannah's world." Redfield tapped his chin, thinking condescendingly. "The scent of magic is all over her."

"Second? There's another Earth out there?"

"Yeah… You must've heard me mention _our_ Earth, Third Earth. Out there in the universe are solar systems similar to ours, apart from the people and time period. I was to investigate them in my younger days but only settled for the Fourth Earth's solar system back in 2002. Nothing much happened after that."

"Eh? What about the first two Earths?"

Redfield lowered his head. "We do not talk about them..."

"Geography was never my thing; I only liked the teacher, Mr Brady. As long as I have a globe in my room, I could care less."

"That's an original way to think. Thanks. Learning little bits about religion and alien life is good, even if most people prefer facts above anything else.

"I imagine there are rules when it comes to flashing your power about like a pretentious braggart. Could really get your point across."

"In any case,I just told you a bit of truth, and you could care less. That's good. We need more people like that, the neutral kind. The only real answer to everything is just to live life your way and not to worry. As long as you follow basic principles like respect thy neighbour and love thy father, you cannot fail as a human in life. Rules like that never change unless the occasion requires it to."

"Like what?"

Redfield mumbled. "You know how to like…" He paused and fiddled his fingers. "Wesker. The good book says to honour thy father, that's the occasion not to."

"Anyone could've told you that. Wesker was a real asshole."

"He died as he was born, a genuine person. I forgave him."

David flared his eyebrows. "And everything in between?"

"Can we please leave it at that? You get the point."

"I know the 'rules' are just a guide but what is the real truth?"

"Like the meaning of life?"

David nodded. "Yeah."

"You know I'm not allowed to talk about that. Elder Code of Conduct."

"Can't you make any exceptions? I'm your son."

"That maybe, but there are some things humanity must never know. The truth would tear the virtue of balance apart. The Elder Gods must maintain order and it would be irresponsible of me to squeal."

"Do you even know it?"

Redfield's head sagged. "We both do. If I heard that back in my youth, I would most likely respond horribly and maybe a bit... sourly. Ever since Sarkis found out, I can see the truth behind it."

David exclaimed promisingly. "Oh well. At least we had a nice talk about it. I missed these long lectures you used to give us. It's great knowing there's life out there at long last, but on the topic of Lyannah…"

"She's a hothead, I know. Give her a chance, she's new to this world, something you share in common. Relate, listen and understand her, she might do the same."

"For you, Dad, I will. Because it's my job."

Redfield stands up and places his hand on David's shoulder briefly. "You'll do what's right, I know it. I'm calling it in. You'll find the barracks on the left side outside. I'm sure Mr Boone and Cass are already there."

"I almost forgot. Cass and I eloped on Saturday," David gingerly said. "Just thought you should know since she's my wife. I hope you're not mad."

"You're married? Again?" David shows him his wedding ring. Still had a shine to it. "Congratulations Son! I'm so proud of you. Somewhat speechless, to be honest."

"So… you're not mad?"

"Why would I?" Redfield held David by the shoulder and prodded his chest. "My son's back, he's married, and now we all have something worth fighting for. Life is really picking up. You both have my blessings."

David smiled and hugged Redfield. "Thanks, Dad."

"At least we're not alone now. You should probably find her and get some rest."

"A bit early, don't you think?"

"I'm just… overcome with emotion. I just need to be alone with my thoughts."

David tilted his head. "You're thinking about mom, aren't you?"

"Is it obvious? How can anyone blame me?" Redfield slowly stared at the floor by his feet and slouched. "She was perfect... my whole world."

"I miss mom too."

"It's okay to miss her; I do every day. Ever since…" Redfield sighed with heavy grief. He couldn't mention the incident. The murder.

"Was her death... swift?"

Redfield walked to the shutter door without a word but stopped to rest his hand on the wall beside it. "There are no words that could describe what Ashford did to your mother. I couldn't even recognise her when I found her that that day. There was nothing much of her left. Nothing left to bury."

David sat down on the chair behind him. "I'm sorry, Dad," David sobbed, "this should never have happened." He sniffed. "I loved her so much."

"We'll make do… It was never your fault…"


	3. Daughter of Skyrim

David searched about the Dam for Boone and Cass, who were lost among the crowd of N.C.R. soldiers shortly after the briefing moments ago. William and Lyannah were given a cubicle deep within the Dam's barracks, at the far back. It wasn't particularly roomy, and there certainly were no windows, but they had it to themselves. That was the only part William cared about.

William smirked and even chuckled lightly, earning a questioning glare from Lyannah. "See? Armour was a good idea," he smugly said.

She snorts and shrugs her shoulders. "Okay. You were right. Do not let it go to your head."

 _Does not handle I-told-you-so's very well_. William smirked and stepped behind Lyannah and detached her armour slowly. "Okay, I won't." He places Lyannah's armour plate on a nearby table. "You know, I'm proud of you. You did well today. Didn't even kill anyone." Lyannah turns around to him in his arms.

She smiled "Proud, is it? You make me sound like a child."

A light chuckle escaped William, and while Lyannah stood in front of him with her pretty green eyes of hers, he suddenly realised how much he had looked forward to being alone with her.

"Yeah… Just try not to get shot again."

William leant to Lyannah and kissed her softly on the lips that he felt has been long overdue. In time she agreed and returned his affection in kind, wrapped her arms around William with him soon doing the same.

The intimate moment was cut short when the door to the barracks opened, William and Lyannah prayed that they wouldn't bother their moment, but it was far too late. It was David, Boone and Cass occupying the cubicle opposite the two. Boone walked off to the single bed in the far corner. He sleeps alone.

David huffed. "Really? You two are bunking opposite us?"

"Oh, Agent Wesker. So nice to see you," Lyannah sarcastically muttered, rolling her eyes with disapproval. "Came to order us around?"

"Hardly…" David replied calmly. "I'll go and make sure the General provides me with another room. Shame actually, I just got comfortable."

"That's right… you do that. The General is expecting to pet his dog now anyway." Cass glared at her with immense internal rage. How dare she talks like that to her man?

David was offended and threw up his arms. "Why are you verbally attacking me?! We're all fighting for the N.C.R., not each other."

"It's not personal. She doesn't really trust anyone," William added.

"For a damned good reason, I don't."

"I swear, anyone this disrespectful deserves a kick in the ass. I'm a gentleman, though, I don't hurt women. I'm walking to my bed."

William hushed Lyannah's voice as she was about to lash out again. "Be our guest, David. Right Lyannah?" He lets go of her mouth, expecting her to be calmer.

"No please, join us… don't expect me to like it," Lyannah mumbled. David leaves and gets comfortable with Boone and Cass within their cubicle.

"Now we rest, Lyannah. Big day for us on Sunday."

Alone with Cass, David pushed their beds together. Opposite William and Lyannah's cubicle, it was hard to ignore them while they got their affairs in order. They were smiling and chuckling at their words like they were besties in the previous life or something of the latter. David was internally angry from being talked down and compared to a dog.

It was getting late; a long rest was needed for whatever was planned tomorrow. Cass was visually irritated by the way David was treated, the way Lyannah spoke to him offended her deeply. She broke the silence and spoke her mind.

"I don't like the way that woman treats you, David. You try so hard to be helpful, and she spits it back at ya. Bitch needs to learn proper manners."

"She's not from around here; I can take the extra roasting. We just need to reach an understanding, if we're gonna be working together." He sits down on double bed by Cass slumps his sack close by. "Just wish she wasn't such a dick."

She relaxes on the bed. "Fuck it. It's not like it's our problem."

"It'll be my problem. I told the General I'd try and cooperate with her and Will." He placed his head in his hand and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Don't get paid enough for this."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't."

"I can talk the talk, don't worry about me… I can set some standards." With a smile, David kissed Cass' lips and left with his brown sack.

Lyannah and William were having a friendly debate between each other, caught up with sharp wordplay on their double pushed bed; they sat happily in their arms. Lyannah merely raised an eyebrow when David came over and cleared his throat, hoping to get their attention politely. It wasn't very welcoming, but they were listening, even when it seemed like she wasn't.

"David. What can I do for you?"

"I just want to talk with Lyannah… If you please?"

"Why? What do you want with her?"

"I just want to reach an understanding with you two. I'm not stupid; we clearly got off on the wrong foot. Why else would I come over here?" He sat at the bottom of William's bed and wiped his face.

"I admire your approach, but between us, she's not from around here."

"Let's try and get along, hmm?" William stared at Lyannah; she's not convinced. "How about we start with a drink? I got whiskey; whiskey is love, whiskey is life. Mmmm, goody goody." Lyannah ponders her eyes at David. She was curious.

"Whiskey?" she mused.

"None for you, Lyannah. Remember last time at the Wrangler?"

"I'm not a child, William, you should know that."

"All right. You can have one. I'll pass." David hands a beautiful orange bottle of whiskey to Lyannah; she snatched it from his fingertips in an instant.

"We can talk over one drink so make it quick."

"That's all I'm asking for." He takes out a bottle of whiskey from his sack for himself. "Let's start with what I know about you. Lyannah, are you new to the Mojave, by any chance?" The Awkward silence falls as he finished speaking. The truth was out, and everyone began to stare at one another.

"What are you saying, David? That my best friend here isn't from the Mojave?"

"I'm thinking not of this world, but that's none of my business." He took a swig off his whiskey, barely reached the label of the bottle.

"Who told you, Agent?"

"General Redfield." David takes out a cigarette and lights it, the flame from his lighter caught very slowly. He sighed. "He's my dad. He asked me to try and get along with you two."

"The General? Wait, what, why?"

"Since Will and I are both Agents, we need to get along better."

William whispers into her ear. She smiled and nodded. "Very well. I respect your boldness, Agent; you proved yourself to be a decent man." She sighed and drank some of David's whiskey. She took more than him below the faded label. "I hail from another world by the name of Nirn. Skyrim, the northernmost province in Tamriel, is my homeland. I blundered an experimented transportation spell and ended up here on your planet in this 'Mojave'. Before you make any wild accusations, there is no denying the fact that this world isn't normal as it appears to be. Even for a native of this world."

"Believe me, I know." David's cigarette finally caught aflame. He smiled. "This spell, though... Do you use any magic of sorts?" Lyannah nods. "Magic in this period?" He smoked. "That's new."

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't believe me?"

"Magic in the Mojave? I need to see it to believe it."

"I'm from the 3rd century, 4th era, year 205. We're worlds apart; I cannot expect you to understand… not without a demonstration. Hand me one of those smokey sticks." David flicks a fresh cigarette from his packet; it was his very last one from his time. His only Sterling. She caught it sharply with a flick of her wrist and examined it with wide green eyes. "Interesting… What is this?"

"That's a cigarette, Lyannah. I suggest you stay away from them. Tobacco kills."

"Aw, shit, I forgot about that." David rubbed out his cigarette on his chest plate "I'm trying to quit."

Lyannah rolled her eyes, and with a click of her fingers, she engulfed her left hand in flames. David found it hard to believe that she quite literally conjured fire from her fingertips without any care. She lit the cigarette and smoked it once, inhaling a large portion of it and puffing out a ring like it was nothing. Her confidence was very amusing to David.

"I don't see the fascination of these 'tobacco' sticks." The flame in her hand dies out naturally.

"That's because you're not a smoker." He takes Lyannah's cigarette and puts it out. "It's a disgusting habit."

"That was my last one anyway. I'm trying to quit smoking."

"So you see, Agent. Magic is as real as you and I. Unfortunately the magic I have isn't enough to send me back home," she said with a frown. "There's no way to regenerate magicka."

"Really?"

"Magicka is what Mages and Sorcerers like I rely on to power our manipulation of the arcane arts. Usually, regenerates on its own but here I don't feel the regeneration process. Without the means to restore my limited magicka, I'm stuck here in the Mojave."

"Ran out of juice? Is this possible?"

"At least we have each other."

Lyannah smiles. "I'm glad to be here with you, but as people say, there's no place like home." She holds William's hand and drinks. "That's the last chapter of my old life… Here with you, William is the start of a new one. I suppose you have a story yourself, Agent?"

"Now that we're honest I can also state that I'm not of this Mojave. Unlike you I'm from this world, not this period, though, I'm from the year 2021. I accidentally destroyed something I shouldn't, and suddenly a large back blast ripped open a tear in time and removed my from there and brought me here in the Mojave, two hundred and sixty years later." David took another sip from his whiskey and screwed the cap back on. He'll just finish it later, and kept it close in his lap. "Because of that, I left behind a wife and two sons, only been here for a week now."

"I'm... sorry." _Probably gonna have to teach him to live in the Mojave too_.

"I feel your pain, Agent. Back in Skyrim, I had everything I could ask for. Love, fame and fortune were just a few, but one night my love was taken from me…" She frowned with a sigh. "I'll live my life all over again in the Mojave if I have to. In the end, the future is never decided, we don't get to change our paths, but if we were to walk them, it's always into the unknown."

"Wow. Quite capable of seeing the bigger picture than regular people, that's nice." Lyannah smiles. "And you Will, care to share a little something about yourself?"

"Nothing much. I'm from the Capital, came to the Mojave to be a courier. I want to see the world, really meet people, you know? That's kind of it. Roamer, drifter and courier, rolled into one."

"I had you all wrong, Agent; we're more alike than I expected. You understand similar pain to me, and that's all I need to see you as a worthy ally."

David smiled from sheer succession. "Thanks. That's all I really wanted, to just be friends." He stood up and hauled his sack over his shoulder. It was considerably lighter. "Have a good night you two; I'm calling it in."

"Good night." David nods and leaves. William playfully nudges Lyannah's shoulder. "See? He's not that bad. A little rocky but not all that bad."

"He's fine." She gulps down her whiskey almost to the last drop and rubs her forehead with a breath.

"You were kinda hard to work with back when we first met. Remember?"

"Must I?"

"I have no need for a courier," he mocked childishly. Back when they first met almost aeons ago. "Remember when you called me a peasant?"

"Remember when you shot me in the thigh?" she returned with a smirk. Reminiscent of the time the two first met, William had to subdue her without lethal force. The scar healed since.

"Touché."

"Come on, William. Let's sleep now."

"No need to tell me twice," he chortled, kissing Lyannah's kissable lips.

David went back to his bed to see Cass fast asleep; the poor girl couldn't stay awake for him. Figuring the time was reaching midnight, we're only human so the time to rest was now. As husband and wife which was a nice perk and not staying up until 5 am because sleep was never really just for the weak.

With the day ending in success with the chat with Lyannah being moderately positive, nothing more could be done. In the end, the success made it so nothing can piss on this night. David caressed Cass' body and placed her under the bed's sheets; she looked cold, faintest touches from his warm hands always got a response from the goosebumps. He crawled under the blanket with her and held her close to his, she felt his encouragement, but it just felt weird with her asleep. Though that didn't stop William and Lyannah, they had some fun under the sheets. Lyannah moaned like a woman or a beast possessed. She degraded William in the heat of the lovemaking.

Nothing was certain, though, most likely either a nice make out session or general foreplay. It was weird watching, probably why they kept it small. Some love over here would be nice but oh well. From their side they were sharing some love under the cover, some hanky panky from Cass would be nice too but being human made the feat harder. A long kiss on Cass' cheek is all he could spare. It was a long day.

Just then as the satisfaction of sleeping with loved ones was very warming, in their comfortable beds the moment was cut short once a passing N.C.R. Ranger opened the Barracks' doors and woke everyone up in a traditional military fashion. "Rise and shine, maggots!" he said before buggering off outside.

The passing chatter around the N.C.R. personnel flooding out the door made it hard to go back to sleep, as usual, Boone was wide awake in full uniform before David could even rub the crap from his eyes. With a bottle of water in hand, he was keen to start the day before the younger man.

Boone smiled. "Rise and shine sleepyhead."

David yawned. "Boone, you're killin' me."

"Okay. I'll just go on my own and do a few jobs around the Dam maybe... We'll meet up later anyway."

"Yeah. Great… you go do that," David mumbled. Boone leaves the barracks, and David buries himself under the warm cover.

Today, on this fine Saturday marks David's first week anniversary of being stranded in the miserable future that is known as the Mojave Wasteland, courtesy of the Nexus Transformer. David doubted he'd live the length he did; he was tempted to kill himself after the first day. He was glad he didn't. Just being around lovely people and the beautiful Cass, David was glad he reconsidered. At times he was beginning to enjoy his new life.

Cass rolled to David. "Morning luv."

"Morning honey." He kisses Cass on the lips. _Life still finds a way to be goooood._

Cass gets out of bed and heads to her locker. "New day ahead of us."

"I wonder what there's to do around here."

"We'll find something." She takes her clothes from under her bed and gets dressed. She slipped on her light blue jeans and old socks.

"I'm going to see the General for today."

"Why?"

"He has some interesting stories. I want to hear them and learn more about the N.C.R."

"Guess I'll hang around with Boone." Cass buttoned on her white blouse and beige cardigan; it was too cold inside the Dam to leave them open. She slung her shotgun over her shoulder. "Have a nice day; we'll meet up later… for dinner perhaps?"

"You can count on it." Cass kisses him. "Sounds great."

"Don't have too much fun." She leaves the barracks.

David smiled and waved Cass out of the barracks, as soon as she left his smile left his face. "I hate Saturdays." David hated every day of the week, only because there was a good reason to. They had a reason to suck.

Under their bed was a small footlocker and an open space where Cass left her belongings open, didn't even bother putting them in the same footlocker. Inside was David's prototype armour, his weapons, meds and ammo. Cass' extra stuff was inside too, partially empty bottles of alcohol and some scraps of ammo. Didn't even have the decency to have any spare clothing or weapons. All she had was on her person.

After putting on his weathered armour, David assessed his munitions, that was something he needed to sort out. Shame his armour was getting damaged from the wear and tear, something needed to be done. Organised would be the key word in this situation. That will be something to do later; maybe something father can help him with.

David decided to go to William and Lyannah's cubicle. They were fast asleep in their arms, after a musky smell it was certain that the two had sex the night before, must've saved the right moment to spend a beautiful moment together. Who wouldn't? Lyannah was gorgeous with her long flowing dark hair, and that smile she had was the one to hide many secrets. Some were most likely the stuff of nightmares. William had a strong build with a sharp look of protection and care. A real gentleman, like the one who would protect the ones he loved and the few who can't defend themselves.

The way they held each other was very similar to the way he used to cuddle Sam once upon a time. Though they were far away from his period, and back then he married her. And with kids, they didn't leave much time to behold. It was just lovely to see love blooming in these times. Chivalry wasn't' so dead as David thought. It was cute seeing the brutish woman in bed with a smile for a change. David left the lovebirds alone.


	4. Too human

David was allowed entry into General Redfield's office by the guard stationed outside, inside it was just the general at his desk- no Colonel Moore to pester him and his father this time. David sat at his desk and waited for him to finish his work, with the door behind David firmly shut David could finally have some private time with him after he tends to the stacks of paperwork cluttering his desk. They were disorganised.

It took nearly thirty minutes, but General Redfield finally finished signing and stacking his paperwork in separate piles going out and coming in. They were all going out. "What's on your mind, Son?"

"Nothing much. You?"

"I was going to meditate after my paperwork. I can just do it later."

"It's been a long time, Dad... a long time alone. Thought we could catch up."

"Sucks, I know. Listen kiddo, I've been getting complaints of anti-social behaviour in the barracks by some of our soldiers very early this morning. Not that it's any of my business, but would that have anything to do with you?"

"It was Will and Lyannah."

"Dammit, now I owe Bardon fifty caps. I thought it was you and Miss Cassidy."

"You betted on me and Cass fucking?"

"I never said that." Redfield hesitated. "You'd want me to bet against you? Is that what you're saying?"

"I'm uncomfortable. And there's something you need to know about Cass. She took our name, and before you ask we were drunk, I couldn't even stop her."

"So she's… Mrs Wesker?" Redfield sighed. "She'd be the first person to take our name willingly. The pain and misery Wesker caused our family sullies our entire family's heritage."

"Is that why mom didn't take your name?"

Redfield put his feet up on his desk and relaxed. "She didn't mind at first. I just strongly advised her not to take it. I told your aunts Rebecca and Cindy not to take our name as well, apart from the problems my dear old father caused the name just didn't suit them. I was doing them a favour, and they obliged."

"We're okay with it."

"Good for you. It's excellent to see you both happy. Wesker, Cassidy, Francis, Mulligan. I could care less, as long as you're both happy, I'm also excited to have a daughter-in-law again. I know that you'll make a better name for us than Wesker ever did… if he ever earned any at all that is." Redfield places his head in his hands with stricken grief. "I kinda miss him. Those good old times of him stealing my alcohol, flirting with Vivian, stealing my cigarettes-"

"Killing my friends," David interrupted, carrying on Redfield's memories, "attacking my family, fucking our maids, raping the dog..." Redfield glared at him very silently and did the stare. The stare. A stare only a parent can perfect. "Sorry."

"Only three of those statements are true, and you get the point. You don't forget times like that."

"Really?! After everything, he did to us? He was a fucking psycho."

"He was different; he got his soul back. And he was the only parent I had, the one who raised your uncles and me. Food, shelter and education... he didn't have to, but he did. We all grown up and had a great childhood. That was before mother died, that day the man I used to call father died too, but he did his best, even at his worst. You weren't as close as I was to him."

"Wish I knew her," David sighed.

"Me too. I don't remember my mother much myself. Childbirth is a bitch though."

"Tell me about it."

"At least your wife didn't break your hand during delivery." He laughed and relaxed more in his chair. "Your mother had a helluva grip during Dean's delivery. Seriously, broke a Demigod's hand like it was nothing. That's like... wow. It's still a shame I wasn't there for yours, though." He sighed again, like the last seven or eight times before. Cumbersome and long. "Claire… my poor Claire... Listen, as much as I love sitting here with you; I don't have much time to spare right now."

"Still preparing for the second battle?"

"Yeah," he muttered, with a bored posture. He uses his terminal and frantically typed way super quick. There was no pausing for his fingers. Multitasking was too easy. "I have files to send, soldiers to assign and among other things I now have to plan the battle again."

"How did the last one go?"

"Surprised you heard about that one." Redfield ceased his typing. "The Legion assaulted the Dam when we least expected it. The Malpais Legate had the advantage when his forces swarmed our defenders at the time, Oliver, Hanlon and I considered a tactical retreat was in order, while I held the Dam against the Legate. N.C.R.'s First Recon led our retreat across the Dam to Boulder City. Our snipers picked off enough centurions during the retreat to cause the Legate to pursue our retreating soldiers."

"Oh, God. What happened?"

"They weren't expecting the Legion to hunt them down, thank Christ that they had their mines handy. I wasn't expecting the Legate to be so gullible to chase after retreating units, a more experienced commander would've taken the Dam and mustered on the defence. But he didn't. Our soldiers regrouped at Boulder City and welcomed the Legion to a minefield they had set out."

"How did the Legate react to that?"

"Not well. There were more than a hundred Legion causalities in the city alone. I don't know what the Legate was thinking, but the Legion ceased their offensive and held onto the Dam for a while like they should have done." Redfield left his desk and rifled through his filing cabinets. "The loss of morale and the timing was well enough for the N.C.R. to counterattack the Dam and route the Legion back east over the river."

"It's not gonna repeat itself again tomorrow is it?"

"The Legion would most likely have learned from their mistakes. They wouldn't play the same card again."

"That's what they want you to think."

Redfield took some files from his filing cabinet and pauses in silence briefly. "You're right, but I gotta explore all possibilities. One foul up and we'll be fighting on their terms. Still… Different Legate, different rules. Cannot assume anything."

"I miss these wise words of yours."

"I'm not going anywhere after everything that happened." Redfield slumped back into his chair. "I don't want to go another year alone."

"It was no picnic for me either." David coughed very heavily, his voice was jagged and tore out his throat. Like he was dehydrated to ever-loving-fuck and ate nothing but crackers and cigarettes. It was hard for Redfield not to notice.

"Fuck, that sounds wretched. Are you sure you're okay, Son?"

"I dunno. Since Thursday morning after my wedding, I've been feeling different. Haven't been feeling myself lately."

"How different?"

"Never felt the likes before, honest. Feel like shit, wanna throw up and I got hungover."

"For reals Son?" David nodded. "I guess I can give you a checkup in the incubator if you want."

"Incubator?"

"The Nexus Incubator. Like an Auto-Doc of this time only more advanced. Auto-Docs are a miracle of pre-war medical technology – a device capable of performing even the most complex medical procedures without qualified medical personnel. Certain individuals like me can make the most out of them and maintain them to near perfection. But only I have the original Auto-Doc they were based on."

"I never knew we had them in 2021."

"Neo-Umbrella did. I have the Nexus Incubator, in mint condition in my medical lab. Unlike the Nexus Transformer, the incubator was a few of a kind. I have the very last one."

"Guess that explains why Romanov had one."

"It was a different make."

"Can I use it?"

"Be offended if you didn't."

Out of nowhere the wall to David's left, opposite the door disclosed a small room with shelves and lockers of medicinal items, chems and science-based equipment. One of which right at the back was the incubator, it was made up of a ventilated cylindrical chamber with a CRT control panel and monitor mounted on the side. Not like the regular Auto-Docs seen in the wastelands, as this one is from Dr Maxis' original design from before the First World War. He was the sole creator of the Nexus, to use for Nazi Germany at the time.

To David's eyes, it was like a cylindrical shower with glass sliding doors with a computer system mounted on it. He felt around the incubator's glass cautiously. "How does it work?"

"You don't need to know. What you do need to know is that a full examination requires the patient to strip naked."

"Really? Right here, in public?"

"The door is locked."

"Uncomfortable much."

"Son, I'm your father, and more importantly I am a registered Doctor."

"Since when?" David chuckled.

"Since I found the incubator. Now get in."

David reluctantly undressed and put away his munitions to the side and got into the incubator; it felt no less than having a shower, only it was a two-person deal. Redfield strapped David into a thick leather harness, firmly holding him in place while he put a fine needle into David's neck, then a breathing apparatus over his mouth and nose. After the closing of the sliding glass doors, he manned the terminal linked to the contraption.

The incubator soon filled up with a thin green liquid, completely saturating and immersing David's body. The fluid was clear enough to see David coping well on the other side, inside it was all mirrored. On the monitor, it displayed David's vital signs and current status. His limbs and mental state were perfectly healthy, which was a bit unusual for Redfield to see, his body was humanly perfect.

David shouldn't be human. His status shouldn't be human. The unique strain of the Prototype virus should be noticeable all throughout David's body; he'd be the very least mentally unstable. With wonderful superhuman properties like perception, regeneration, strength and agility that would generally destabilise the body, none of that information was displayed. What was displayed was a virus. A bad one… all over his body. Not one that should be there. His body was presented by colour. Blue is perfect, green is okay, yellow was moderate damage, red being heavy. It was black. The illness was critical or unknown.

Apart from that, David was a perfectly good early twenties human male, human being the main word. Though a concerned Redfield quickly drained the incubator and opened it. David was very limp; only the harness was keeping him up on his feet. He looked far too tired and relaxed and wasn't strong enough to remove the breather.

"How are you feeling, Son?"

"I could go for a nap right about now," David yawned.

Redfield held David's head up under his chin. "Just checking for side effects."

David was still tired. "What was in that liquid?"

"Antibiotics and muscle relaxants are some… I wouldn't know the rest; I didn't make the damn thing."

"Is there anything wrong with me Dad?"

"I'm going to be straight with you, Son. You have lost a great deal of your metabolism, your regeneration and power. Not only you're more of a human now; you're also infected with the Nexus virus."

"The Nexus is a disease now? Is there a cure?"

"No..." Redfield sighed. "No there isn't. I took the full effect from the Nexus Transformer long ago, and I didn't think more than that. Passing into this world in the way you did must've infected you. You just got to live with it like me."

"Can I pass on the virus?"

"Aw hell no. I checked that theory out myself personally. Found it binds to one person, that's how advanced it is. Not like the Old World viruses."

"So many viruses… how do you keep track?"

"One of the perks to becoming a Demigod, infinite memory. May not have my powers or my metabolism anymore but I'm still Zachariah Wesker and always will be."

"Shit man, that's whack..."

"I'm running on constant critical power levels. The life support in my armour keeps me from deteriorating. If I keep it off for extended periods of time, like you, I'll deteriorate into mere dust. Only as a Demigod, I'll last for weeks without it compared to humans two-to-three days duration."

Cold sweaty fear ran down David's face. "I'll deteriorate into DUST?!" David shrieked. "In a few days!?"

"A human will begin to deteriorate between forty-eight and seventy-two hours. The excess power you once had as a superhuman slowed down the process, and at a cost, it's gone through the days of decay. If you don't get something to fight it off now as a human, you won't last."

"So I'm human now?"

"Afraid so. The Nexus whittled it away."

"Being human sucks. Am I gonna die?" David stuttered. "Like for real this time," he sobbed, "I don't want to die again."

"I know how you feel... Death is dark, isn't it?"

"It was so dark and cold."

"I won't let you die like this Son. Most humans infected with the N-virus die, yes, but you're not a full human, though. You were born a superhuman, with a mild strain of the Prototype virus coursing in your D.N.A. Not all humans have that perk. If we can feed is some P-virus it just might be enough to sustain you. You just need a little taste now and then to keep the process delayed until a permanent cure is found."

"You're gonna inject me with the Progenitor virus? Is that wise?"

"Better than the alternative."

"Is it even around anymore?"

"It's more plentiful than you think, don't worry about it." Redfield lets go of David's head and uses his Pip-Boy. "I'm going to prescribe you some medication to use daily, in hopes it will increase your life duration. I don't want to see the Nexus kill you, Son. May have to calculate an exact amount, but a small daily dose will keep you going for twenty-four hours or so until the next one."

"So an injection of P-virus a day to live an extra day or deteriorate into dust."

"That's one way to put it. I better get back to work, just unstrap yourself and meet me at my desk." Redfield turned away and walked out of his infirmary.

"I was getting shrinkage standing here anyway." David pulls out needles from his neck, painfully tearing at his skin. "I hate The Nexus. At least there's hope for me."

Redfield was back to doing his paperwork that always seems to pile up on his desk when no one looks. He closed the blast door behind David. David's hair was still wet; he dried off the important parts of his body before sitting at his desk "Feeling better?" Redfield asked.

"Not really. How do I live as a human?"

"You'll make the time to learn. Not like you have a choice."

David sighs and rubs his forehead. "Yeah, I work better like that anyway. I forgot to ask, how have you lived this long in the state you're in? Aren't Gods immortal?"

"I should be but when the Nexus handicapped me I lost the power to retain my youth. I can still die, but not through ageing."

"Tough break. What is there to do around here? I'm bored."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Family bonding isn't exciting enough for you?"

"Anything _fun?"_

"You'll have to find your own entertainment, Son. On top of all my work, I gotta make meds for you now. I can probably transmute a common stimpak to three P-viral injections."

"There's P-virus in stims?"

"Bet that never occurred to you when you used the one on my vertibird. Did you?"

"That could've killed me. Mutated me at the very least."

"But it didn't. The broc flower is a direct descendant to the Stairway of the Sun. Though the viral bile within has evolved to a harmless one, it's still good enough for most superhumans, protohumans and supremes."

"They're in broc flowers then? And stimpaks?"

"Stimpaks are made of a broc flowers and a xander roots. But I just remembered only the pure flower would be adequate to sustain you so… I guess stimpaks aren't gonna work."

"If it's every twenty-four hours when is the next one due? I can't remember that last dose I had!"

"Calm down, David. Your next dose is scheduled for 10:30 am. The water in the incubator has similar chemical makeup to the average stimpak. You'll be fine for the rest of today."

"Great! Now I can start relaxing. Shame Hoover Dam is such a bore fest."

"What were you honestly expecting?"

David shrugged his shoulders and put his feet up on Redfield's desk. "A casino or a playroom at least."

"This is a Dam, not a pub, Son."

"Time to start living like you're in one." David reaches into his sack and takes out a bottle of whiskey. There were only one left after that one. "How about a drink?"

"Not for me thanks?"

"That doesn't sound like you."

Redfield filed away the paperwork into one of his filing cabinets to his right and sat back in his chair. "David… David… David. I haven't eaten or drank anything since I first put this armour on."

"No shit, really? When was that?"

"In 2079. The last thing I need right now is alcohol, no telling what it'll do to me in this current state."

"That's over two hundred years without a drink... Ouch... What does your armour do?"

"Controls my breathing, energy levels and the evacuation of bile and vomit that builds up from time to time. Even though I've been capped myself, I still have a tiny slither of power left to my name. I'm constantly and still suffering the deterioration process, which is at a standstill."

"How does an armour do that?"

"A woman engraved it with a sigil that controls the flow of power."

"So it's never ending… Is the pain worth that little power? Can't you let it go? Having to live on a tiny drop like that can't be worth it."

"The last bit of power I got is for emergencies. Every time I take off my helmet I run the risk of losing power, through vomiting of my blood. If that happens too often, I'll deteriorate quicker. My armour allows bypassing these phases with a painful yet safer alternative. That's why I have to wear this armour. I would love a drink, but I got too much riding on me."

"I understand, Dad."

"It's a horrible way to live, but I accept the punishment." Redfield puts his feet up on his desk again. "I'm sure I bored you to near death right now so why don't you go share that whiskey with your beautiful wife. Hell, why not spend the day together?"

"I haven't got much money right now."

"You don't need money to have a good time."

"True, but when you're broke as fuck opinions change."

"You're broke?"

"Broke the bank at the ceremony."

"That's Vegas for you. They take money from the young or stupid. Seeing you're my heir I refuse to let you leave this office without allowance." Redfield reaches into one of his desk's drawers and takes out a bag of caps and chucks it to David. "That'll be enough."

David feels the weight of the bag. It jingled, and the weight was heavy. "How much?"

"Ten thousand, at least."

"W-T-F, Dad."

"Not enough? I'll get you more…" Redfield opens the same desk, but David waves him off from giving him more.

"No, no! I'm fine, really."

"Only fitting you share a portion of my wealth, Son. You are my only heir to my fortune and legacy. Once I figure out how to come clean."

"What fortune?"

"I have millions of dollars stashed away from the blueprints I sold over the years, of our power armour and combat armour back in the day. Not worth much then but I also have over a million caps in the value of gold from the Sierra Madre. With those combined that makes me the second richest in all of the wastelands, behind the late Mr House."

"Nice!"

"Now go out there and make some fun. You and Agent Haydock will have a lot of work to do later."

"How much work are we talking here?"

"You'll have it cut out for you later, that's for sure."

"I'll go find Cass then."

"You crazy kids have fun." Redfield continues his work on his terminal. Most of it were terms and agreements for N.C.R. munitions, and the rest were private conversations with other faction leaders. The ones he had on the line was Elder McNamara and Elder Lyons. The east and west coast Brotherhood sectors. They liked and even support his rule and position over the N.C.R. "I still got some P-samples to make."

"Laters." David snatched the bag of caps and left the office.

Redfield sighed. "I could kill someone for a cigarette and some Irish coffee right about now. To have that freedom again..."


	5. Battle plans

Boone, Cass, Lyannah nor William were seen inside or outside of Hoover Dam, what was worse was the fact there was nothing remotely fun to do to pass the time anywhere here. With the barracks empty David went back to bed for a quick rest, Cass was already there lying down. She was tired and as bored as hell as David was, and to top it all off she was just as lost as he was to boot. She noticed him before he could speak.

Cass frowned. "Hi."

"Hey. You alright?"

"Yeah… Why wouldn't I be? I'm at Hoover Dam. That's great."

"Yeah, it is. Where're the others at?"

Cass sighed again. "Can't find Boone. Six and his bitch are outside the visitor centre."

"Still don't like Lyannah, huh?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she jokingly said, forcing out a smile.

David sits on the bed by Cass. "We spoke last night; they're both pretty sound."

"Sound? Is that some jargon from your time?"

"Means they're rather cool. Sorry, my old captain used that term." Cass exclaims. "Lyannah, like me, isn't from this period."

"Really now?" Cass muttered under her breath, "Everyone's not from around here like it's cool or something."

"Believe me, that novelty has worn right off. Like me, Lyannah was taken from her world, from some planet or something called Nirn. Said she comes from a place called Skyrim."

Cass sits up in disbelief. "Get out…"

"Yeah. She has it worse than I do… Ironically she takes the situation better."

"Doesn't mean I'll go easy on her, but I'll cut her _some_ slack, 'kay?"

"That would be dandy, thanks. Don't cut her too much, though," David smiled. "Seeing you fight her this way in my honour kinda builds up my ego. Makes me feel hot."

"I'm happy with that. Just don't go asking for a threesome. Not with _her_ at least, need some level of trust in my lovers."

David held his chest playfully. "Now you're just making me hotter, Cass. I'm going mad over here all of a sudden."

Cass smiled. "That sounds like my cue," she purred. "Let's feel some heat."

Cass held David's shoulders and placed a light kiss on his lips; the subtle hint gave David the moment to consort his wife, in which he thinks. David and Cass got closer, far beyond kissing, they both went as far to feel and grope each other's body.

With David on top sexual intercourse was almost certain, the heat fuelled by the groping and kissing David was going supernova. The same couldn't be said for Cass' behalf. David saw that Cass wasn't fully at the moment to properly carry on, which was very odd. No lip biting or enthusiasm. No matter how much she wanted it she just couldn't force herself, and neither could he as they stared awkwardly at each other with David mounting her. It was getting awkward.

"You're not feeling it? Are you Cass?"

"Would you be offended if I said yes?"

"No, why would I? Whatever makes you happy makes me happy."

Cass frowns. "Thank God. For a minute there I thought I'd have to do something I didn't feel like. Sorry luv, just not feeling it right now. Can you please roll off me?"

Cass soon slid David off her in the least insensitive way. Lying down side-by-side, Cass never felt so not-in-the-mood before, while David and his ego felt so dumbfounded by the soiled moment his face went into deep shock. Turned off completely.

"I thought I was in the mood but…" She sighed.

"Pride… dying. Ego… flat-lining. Fading to black…"

Cass huffed. "Maybe next time, honey."

"That's fine with me. You know I'm always here for your needs."

"I just feel rather sick, to be honest."

David sat up behind her. "How sick?"

"Where do I start?" Cass sat up. "I must've thrown up three times in the last two days, my feet are killing me, and today I'm just so fucking tired. And this headache is pissin' me off!"

"I'm sorry, I wish there were something I could do to make you feel better… other than sex."

"I'll keep that in mind if anything turns up." Cass shifts her body to the side of the bed.

David reaches for his sack and takes out a bottle of whiskey. "How about a drink?"

"Now you're talking." Cass took the whiskey from David and opened it, but then after a smell, she handed it back to him. "I don't actually feel like having a drink."

David has dumbfounded again. His wife turned down a drink. "Wow… You really are sick."

"I know. I wouldn't mind a drink, but something is keeping me from even touching the stuff. I feel weird and dirty." Cass paused and suddenly vomits on the floor. Chunks of her last meal were heaved all over the floor, brown and yellow paste and everything. Repugnant stuff. A brown pile of mush.

"Cass?!"

Cass covered her mouth with unsurprising shock and dribbled between her fingers. "Are you kiddin' me? Not again!" she growled.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Beats me. Just some stupid shit, I guess."

"Never seen this in you. Cass… are you…" Cass glares at him instantly with a mean glare. "Never mind."

"I don't know what you're implying, and I don't want to know." Cass laid down on the bed in a strop. "I just want to rest before the meeting."

"What meeting?"

Cass yawned. "With the Generals, to make battle plans for tomorrow or something like that."

"When?"

"In the evening, somewhere," Cass tirelessly mumbled.

"I'll be back; I need to get someone to clean up the floor."

"Thanks. I can always count on you." Cass fell to sleep without a sound after her last word.

 _Ahh, the married life is never easy._ Later that day, long time into the late evening when the bitter darkness fell across the Mojave, a soldier came by the barracks and asked David and Cass to report to the war room. Apparently, the Generals wanted all Agents and their parties. With baited breath, David held Cass' hand and followed the soldier to the war room.

The moderately sized office was fitted with a large wall of monitors and terminals in the far back, opposite the entrance. General Redfield, Colonel Moore and General Lee Oliver were looking over a large table with an interactive map of the Mojave Wasteland, Capital Wasteland and even the Commonwealth. It was more like a battle map with all key locations and forces. They all relentlessly poked and swiped at the map like it was their prey.

General Oliver wore an elegant tan N.C.R. duster with badges, purple hearts and other medals. He was in his late thirties with the experienced prestige of authority. There weren't any N.C.R. members in sight; the mood was quite calm and silent.

At the door by David was Boone, Cass and William leaving Lyannah leaning against the back wall near the shutter door. She wasn't even allied with the N.C.R. so she could care less about them as much as they cared about her. The silence was broken when the five stood by the battle map. Though both of the Generals and Moore noticed them, they never took their eyes off the map for a second. Always watched the map.

"General Oliver. Agent Haydock and Wesker are here."

Oliver sternly glares at William and David's group. "You lot took your time getting here; I was getting the impression you were sitting this one out."

"It's my first week, sir," David said sheepishly.

Oliver scoffed. "I'm willing to let that slide Agent Wesker but still... Both of you are here, and that's all that matters. We're all here to make some plans for tomorrow's battle. With two Agents in service, things will be a bit different this time around.

"How different?" William asked.

"This time we'll be the one attacking their base of operations. Redfield has made a few calls to our allies and will set a garrison here at the Dam tomorrow."

"We're attacking them?"

Oliver became offended. "Our men look up to you, Courier, they need to see you in action."

"William, your track record stretches as far as the Capital, even until now you still leave quite a name for yourself," Redfield added, rearing his head up with his equal. "Are you absolutely sure about your choice?"

"Does the N.C.R. spy on me or something?"

Oliver and Redfield had stared at each other before Oliver found his voice. "We cannot answer that question, only that the N.C.R Council keeps an eye on VIPs like yourself and Agent Wesker, and even your lady friend over there. N.C.R. does it all the time when it's necessary."

"I don't like this idea."

Redfield glared at Oliver. "Oliver… I was to lead the attack to the Legate's Camp. You're not suggesting that these five will fight their way to Legate Lanius are you?"

"That is what I'm suggesting, Redfield." Oliver met Redfield's glare with a stare of his own. "Be reasonable here; you barely survived the last battle against the Malpais Legate. If Legate Lanius is half the monster, you take him for there is no chance in hell I'm letting you face him under any circumstances. I don't want to make the same mistake twice."

Redfield stood firmly in disappointment. "Just say it out loud, Oliver. You're not thinking about letting me into the fray any time soon. Tell me I'm wrong."

"You're getting too old for this line of work, and… we cannot afford to lose you, Redfield. You're too important to the N.C.R., maybe more so than Kimbal. Your service is too valuable to us. That's why I need you here in the war room."

Redfield stopped using the interactive map and faces General Oliver with a firm stance. He wasn't willing to just sit on his ass all day because of his health. His eyes bored into Oliver's. "You're keeping me in here?"

"If the N.C.R. is gonna pull through this I need you here with Moore and I."

"Oh, Generals?" William politely said, hoping to divert their attention. Redfield silences him with a quick curl of his hand. After a quick look at his gloved hands, he waved his hand once at Oliver. "You don't need me in the war room," he said with a slow movement of the hand.

"What?"

Redfield waved his hand slowly again in front of Oliver. "You don't need me in the war room," he repeated slowly.

"Whatever you're trying to do stop it."

 _Either the ability to_ _manipulate people is_ _beyond my weakened state or Oliver isn't like the weak-minded types of people I surround myself with._ Redfield stared at his hands. "I apologise, but is the situation that bad? What are you not telling me?"

Oliver hesitated and sighs. "I've been getting talk of Legion sightings in the Capital and the Commonwealth."

"And no one told me why!?"

"We're at war, Redfield. The Legion is marching to all our settlements inside and outside our boundaries. We only just got concerns from the larger settlements, Rivet City, Diamond City, Goodneighbour and Megaton, they're all fearing the worst. Not even the vaults out there are safe."

"This is inconceivable!"

Moore slowly turned to Oliver. "How long have you been hiding this?"

"That is irrelevant. This is based on new information, not wholly concrete."

"I'll stay here then, don't expect me to like it." Redfield reluctantly continues to use the interactive map. "At least they're stretching their forces thin all over. We can't be expecting much in terms of numbers."

"Thank you, Redfield. We'll sure as hell be a lot more successful with you around here. We can turn the war in our favour."

"And just like that, I'm in the middle of another operation, fucking hell. It's Operation: Raccoon City all over again."

"Raccoon City?"

"My hometown back in 1998. The city was at war with zombies, monsters and evil corporations. We'll talk about it later, Colonel..."

Oliver went back to addressing David and William. "I apologise for that Agents. We had some difficulties to iron out. Now, where were we…?"

"How about I lead the charge?" David blurted with no second thought. Winging it seemed like a good idea.

"You are a valid option. Redfield?"

Redfield inspects interactive map. "That might just work, maybe even more so than Haydock."

"That's all I needed to hear. As far as we know, there is only one person with frontline and leadership experience, and that is Agent Wesker." He sternly addressed, "Agent Wesker, will you lead the charge?"

"Absolutely."

Oliver finally breaks a smile, one that could nearly crack his face. "In your armour, we can't have you on the sidelines; we need someone to project some more force."

"I have just the thing. Some heavy ordinance is in order."

"How heavy are we talking?"

"Power armour."

"I like it."

"Are you planning on using David here as a meat shield?" William asked out of the kindness of his heart. Can't let David get _too_ hurt out there on their behalf.

"This power armour is the best in its category. Safety is guaranteed."

"What about the support?"

"That would be you four. Agent Wesker will lead and take the punishment while the rest of you dish it out. Questions?"

"What kind of opposition will we expect? And what about reinforcements?" Lyannah asked, finally, from the back of the room.

"Good question. You'll be expecting your general Legionary forces, no numbers are exact," Oliver said, with a surprised expression, "only they outnumber us two-to-one. As for reinforcements, there will be a squad of Rangers waiting for your signal to attack the Legate's Camp. Plus anyone else alive up there, they'll move on with you and follow your example."

"We can handle whatever they throw at us."

Oliver smile widens. "I like your attitude, madam. You see Redfield; this is the attitude I expect from all of our soldiers. I want to see more of that."

"That's quite a compliment, Oliver. Need more capable people like her no doubt. Still, with the right people, we might rinse this war for keeps this time around."

"There's no doubt in my mind that these five will fit the bill perfectly, all thanks to you." He looks to Redfield. "The N.C.R. put all their trust in you since day one, I don't know how you do it, but no one has ever doubted your advice. What's the secret?"

"Too many years of experience."

"The N.C.R. owes you a royal debt, Redfield. It will be paid." He tugs his shoulder. "Listen… there's one more thing. The battle will most likely happen very early in the morning tomorrow; I suggest you get your affairs in order and prepare yourselves for war as soon as possible."

"This'll be the last battle for everyone, one way or another. I just hope to Christ that we get through this war without too many casualties; we lost too much to the Legion already."

"We have to make sure the N.C.R. wins, by ANY means necessary."

"You'll get no arguments from me. You heard the man, get yourselves ready for tomorrow. Agent Wesker, report to my office. You'll need an upgrade before you steamroll our advances."

"Loud and clear," David stammered, leaving the war room.

"I am trusting you four to support Agent Wesker here; he'll lead the charge and will take the heat for it. You four are his sword and spear."

"This goes against everything I'm trained for, sir."

Cass peered over her shoulder to Boone. "Not the only one here, Boone."

"I cannot put a price on your connection and cooperation as a group; you'll work better together. Discretion is the better part of valour, speak up if there are any objections to that. No? Good. Teamwork gets shit DONE, with a capital D. You'd be more inclined to support each other with the connections you share."

"Probably shouldn't but my rifle is up for it."

"I second that Boone," Cass grinned.

"If David doesn't mind the heat I'll do everything I can."

"I'll follow their examples," Lyannah muttered with a bored look stretching across her face.

"That's all we ask for. Dismissed." William, Lyannah, Boone and Cass all leave the war room. They talked amongst themselves and then it started to fade away. Oliver took off his cap, it showed off his balding hair and stressed hazel eyes. He was getting too old for this shit.

"I trust we covered everything?" Redfield asked.

"Only for today. Tomorrow I need you here."

"I know. I'll suit up Agent Wesker and get him ready for tomorrow."

"If you're taking him to your private vault please make it quick."

"I will sir. Don't you worry about that."

"I hope we're doing the right thing."

"Aren't we always Oliver?" Moore added. "We know what's best for the Mojave."

"Not just the Mojave, the future of mankind everywhere..."


	6. Dream come true

David stood by Redfield's desk, waiting patiently for whatever reason. He couldn't even begin to list what was going to be said or done. In his traditional fashion, Redfield entered behind closed doors. With baited breath and a brief exclaim, Redfield had dropped his persona.

"Alone at last."

"Dad, is this battle as bad as it sounds?"

"I'm afraid so, Son."

"Then I'm here to get suited up for some goodies for the battle, right?"

Redfield chuckled. "That's right."

"Not here to catch up then?"

"Maybe just a little. You might be pleasantly surprised what I have in store for you." Redfield starts to fiddle with his Pip-Boy. After some button prompts and beeps, whatever he was doing it was finished successfully. "We'll need to make a trip for this one."

"Where?"

"I'll surprise you."

"Okay..."

Ten minutes later Redfield met David at his vertibird. The night was still cold, and the Dam was silent in wait for the battle that could change everything forever. The sounds of the sea brushing against the walls were soothing, the sweet sounds of the luxury of the beach life. The vertibird's hull was cold to the touch and still had a shine to it. The inside air was colder than the outside. With a flick of a switch, the lights were all on, and the father and son duo manned the cockpit.

David watched his father flick on all the ignition turned and seen his focus fixed on the dials and buttons. He never liked flying aircraft, he felt like one jerk in the wrist could mean life or death. That was gambling for you. His uncle flies actual jets like a damned pro, and so does his father, those were big shoes to fill. The vertibird was something else; it soared through the friendly skies at record speed.

The hull was thick titanium and carried its weight regarding dealing damage with air superiority. David let his father fly on his own; there's only so much he could learn from flying an aircraft he had no idea about. Being copilot in a modern jet or helicopter was different than flying a vertibird of the future. One he doesn't reside in.

"Being here with you is more important than anything I can imagine right now," David smiled. "It would make my day to see you fight with us."

"I trust Oliver with my life; he wasn't lying about what he already said back in the war room. The worst part is he's right. I am getting too old for this shit." Redfield sighed and stared at another portrait of President Kimbal. This one was in a small photo frame. Was this some sort obsession he had? Does everyone have a picture of the president or something?

Redfield felt bewildered of his path of morals and past. After some silence, he finally carried on, "Look at me… I'm three hundred and three years old, and I'm only as powerful as a regular human now. I'm an infant in comparison to Sarkis' brethren, and I have no idea how this story will end..."

"But Dad…"

Redfield felt slight anger and gradually built up the tone of his voice to one that felt out of character. "Don't 'Dad' me, David. You just don't understand, do you?!" He rotated his head to David's, calmly and with a softer tone. "It's Operation: Beverly Hills, in its simplest form. I don't need to tell you how that ended do I?"

"Christ, how could I forget? The mayhem, chaos and bloodshed all over the news. High school under attack, people crying for help. Zombies… monsters… The worst thing I ever seen."

"You had it easy… The Raccoon City incident was even worse." Redfield fixed his eyes back in front, facing and focussing on the clouds of the airspace. He could only fly blind for a single minute, that's more than anyone else before him. "Just like me, though, you died…"

"And unlike you, I was sent to the future in the arms of a homicidal psychopath."

"Well… I was incarcerated in military custody against my will, and experimented on for months."

"Mine's worse."

"This isn't a competition, Son. My point is that only you were too gullible and far too arrogant that day of the incident."

"How did you expect me to react?"

"Not to go in way over your head, for one thing. Just like your mother - God rest her soul - you can't leave well enough alone."

"Right… And that war between STARS and Neo-Umbrella was all your fight and not mine?"

"The war between Umbrella and I was raging long before you were born. Ever since Raccoon. However, this is one incident we're gonna win this time."

"This time?" David mumbled to himself. He had questioned the outcome several times in his head in a loop. _Who actually won in Operation: Beverly?_ "Where are we going anyway? We've been flying for ages now."

"One, we've been airborne for…" Redfield checked the clock on the terminal between him and David. It was a tick after 6:20 pm "Ten minutes. Two, we're heading to my private armoury in my secret vault."

"You have a secret vault? Come on."

"Okay, it's not secret. I say it like that, so it sounds better. In there though I have a wide assortment of weapons and armour of your wildest dreams."

"How wild are we talkin' here?"

"You'll see. They will all see."

It was nearly 7 pm, still quite dark. The problem with David's armour the coltan had a thermos effect; it insulated from the outside. When it was hot or cold the armour would match it for the user; it was another design flaw. From that David was feeling cold. From the inside of the cockpit, the lights from the settlements below were faint, campfires and torches were great signs of life.

They were safe among the clouds, David's fear of flying was anti-air, and he felt like aircraft always explode or get shot down. The pop culture paranoia didn't help. His father said they have left the Nevada and entered the airspace of Oregon, the south side of the northwest Commonwealth.

They passed over the two large cities of Arroyo and Shady Sands; both had lights shining bright and made no effort not to show off their size and merit. Arroyo brought the snowy image of 1980s Moscow to mind, and Shady Sands was a large settlement that was ten or even twenty times the size of Goodsprings and was bigger and better regarding crops and people. Wasn't very advanced compared to Arroyo which was a claimed hotspot for tourists.

Redfield landed the vertibird in the crevice of some rocky red mountains, on the flat land separated the hazardous terrain. With a twist of the wrist, the vertibird went silent and lost all its heat. He went to the locker behind David and took out a large UV light from the cabinet in the middle. When the duo stepped outside, they were greeted with the bitter cold that only David could feel, even inside his helmet David could tell his father was smug he couldn't feel the cold because of his armour's insulation.

While Redfield strayed off in another direction with the only available light source David was disoriented from the absence of life and the sounds of wolves howling at the moon above. Apart from the temperature being fifteen below zero, the sounds were chilling. Redfield called David over to a massive cast iron door that looked like a giant cog with the yellow number 13 on. He was on his hacking PDA as there was no way to open it in plain sight.

Then the vault door rolled to one side. It was open… The lights were all lit up inside. Rows of lockers were tightly stacked side-by-side. The floor and ceiling and some open portions of the walls were solid stone. Smoothed down flat.

Walking down the corridor David notice that the lockers all had their own labels, all were different weapon calibres. All sizes were there from smallest to largest, .22LR all the way up to .50 BMG. Around a corner to the right was a small open room with three walls. The walls all had weapon racks above small lockers all around a small metal table and workbench. It was a secret chamber, not unlike his secret infirmary, only this one was more aggressive and more of a museum of weapons, armour and munitions.

A secret armoury came to mind. The secret armoury of General Redfield. Weapon racks of assault rifles, submachine guns, light machine guns, shotguns, explosives, sidearms and even a fair amount of energised hardware, all across the left side.

"Remember to look with your eyes, not with your hands; there's no time for a tour."

"Where on God's green Earth did you get all this?!"

"I'm one of the finest collector and manufacturer of conventional and energy munitions. It's my only hobby. Like you and Dean with those freakin' bottle caps that always seemed to litter the house."

"Is there something I can use for the battle?"

"Let me surprise you."

"Please do."

"Let's get you suited up then."

Redfield walked David away to the left said, around another corner to an actual armoury. This room housed lockers and workbenches; they were all along the walls again. Right in the middle was a power armour frame with the exoskeleton of a power armour suspended by chains, it was almost ready for action with some pieces missing. They stopped at the power armour and Redfield picked up a blowtorch and hammer.

It took some time, but Redfield rummaged through several racks and lockers for separate pieces of power armour plates and assembled them onto the exoskeleton under the power armour frame. Once he fused on the thickest chest piece onto the exoskeleton's chest, David quickly recognised otherwise noticeable blue logo as the logo he had on his armour, before he left it to Sunny. It was an armour of STARS.

It was a good few minutes in where Redfield had stacked plenty of metal plates near the exoskeleton. There were pauldrons, shins, thighs, triceps and every part of the body you could think of. The torso was the largest piece, built from smaller plates and servos. The faded blue emblem was nice to see on the chest.

"Finished!" Redfield exclaimed.

"You have a STARS power armour? You have a STARS power armour?! I thought they'd never leave the development stages."

"They did in small numbers before the War; then the blueprints were bought by the military, Brotherhood and the Enclave. This one is the last of its kind." Redfield checks out the power armour's integrity. It was almost pristine. He started playing with his Pip-Boy and his PDA with his other hand. "The STARS network is down, but with the right wire-tapping I can make the link work for this one and connect it to my Pip-Boy."

"How will you do that?"

"Dr Marcus' hacking tool. I can get the HUD, radio and kill-cam working for you."

"My headset and kill-cam for this armour were shot since I arrived here in the Mojave."

"It would do that." Redfield finished using his Pip-Boy's custom settings and faced David. "There you go. Soon I'll connect your link to the terminals in the war room, that way we can keep in touch just like back in STARS."

David chuckled. "Just like old times, back on the field."

"Shame we don't have a lobby for us all to use, but once I get to link the system to the war room's terminals we can all support you on the field."

Redfield asked David to wait for his return then quickly left the room with a small jog. David's eyes were overwhelmed by the power armour's sheer excellence. Solid coltan plates with blast pockets that were cushioned with laced kevlar. Those were just the limbs. The gyros and the support structure of the joints of the elbows and knees made, so the user's strength was unmatched. The armour could withstand a ridiculous amount of PSI and heat that was all because the coltan was as durable as titanium with double the weight. David didn't even get to the part about the diamond welding.

Redfield returned with a red minigun and an ammo pack. They looked heavy, but his father had a firm grip on them and set them on the table. David's hands were getting sweaty, and his fingers were itching.

"You shitting me?! An Avenger CZ98?" David said, with elation. "Ahhh, they don't make them like they used to. Seeing one of these in the flesh makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Will I be using the Avenger this time?"

"And the armour. I knew how much you were itching to use these babies. Figured the battle tomorrow it a real good opportunity to break 'em in one last time for the ages."

David spun the Avenger's cylinders excitedly, like a child with his hands. He never got tired of the clicking sounds the barrels would make when they rotate. It was ecstasy for his eardrums. "I LOVE the purring sound! Is it weird to be turned on right now?"

"Be weird if you wasn't," Redfield chuckled.

David chuckled and sighed calmly. "I'm sorry. After seeing uncle Alex use this and the power armour that one time during the demonstrations, I always dreamt on testing them out myself. I was soooo jealous. This is a dream come true, apart from the battle tomorrow, which will probably suck."

"A thousand rounds a minute, superb at medium to long range with a tight cone of fire and air cooling. I have an ammo pack with five thousand rounds ready for you to use."

"Was the Avenger always this heavy?"

"It was for me. It's thirty pounds, the armour itself is six hundred pounds altogether. The beauty in power armour is that they increase the strength and the joint structures or the user. With aerodynamic gyros in the ankles, knees and elbows the user can operate better than any superhuman."

"Can't wait to use these!" David rotated the Avenger's barrels again like a child. After a quick spin, he looked around the armoury. The walls and floor were the remnants of a cave. "Is this a leftover cave or something?"

"This was where Vault-Tec was going to make Vault 13, though after some problems with the Great War it was unfinished. I seized it sometime in 2156 as a safehouse, then a secret armoury."

"Is it safe?"

"There is no way to open the vault door by any traditional means. There is a signal Marcus' PDA can use to operate the armoury. If I wanted to, I could activate the self-destruct system in case of a breach, but that won't happen."

"Why?"

"I have security countermeasures. Now back to the armour," Redfield said, hoping to redirect the dwindling conversation. David stepped back to Redfield by the suspended power armour. "I'll start by telling you what you already know. The armour was designed to tank sustained conventional arms fire and explosives. Won't win any marathons anytime soon but it's a small price to pay, as you are the shield of our assault. A walking tank. Unfortunately, it's all you're taking."

"Come again?"

"You can't bring anything else with you. Might get away with two sidearms, rifles and some ammo but meds are a no-go. Usually, a power armour user has a full team to compensate, though you have a team I don't think a medic is one of them, so please be careful."

"I trust my friends will watch my back."

"That's good. The STARS power armour is solid coltan, diamond and flak jacket kevlar combo padding; even blast pockets are in the mix." David never knew the exact anatomy of the weapons and armour; he left that to his father, the chief. "You being immune to ballistic damage is an understatement, so meds aren't necessary." Redfield leant on the table and folded his arms. "The strongest of defence is all you really need."

"Either way, I'll take my M4, Model, Browning and my knife. I'll fit in the ammo some way. The armour has pockets right?"

"That'll work. If you sling them on your back that's fine; there are two compartments on the rear that you can use for the extra ammo. With the durability of the armour itself, chems aren't necessary either. There just isn't much storage space."

"Good. I'll leave my rifle and M203 behind then."

"Impractical to say the least. I have some specialised ammo for your weapons to compensate for the lack of offence." Redfield strayed from the table and let the room again. David knew he went back to the weapons area to collect more goodies. It was five minutes late when he came back. When he did, he had a pump-action shotgun and a metal basket of ammo of various coloured boxes.

"This is my compensation?"

"Ammo for your M4, and for another shotgun you can use instead of the Model 1887."

"I'm fine with the Model. The quick draw is a good idea."

"I know it is, but I have a Remington 870 you can use." Redfield placed the new shotgun on the metal table and pointed at it, instructing David to do something he was dreading. "Lay out your equipment on the table there; you need to get organised." David groaned in objection.

With great reluctance, David emptied out his sack's contents onto the table. Ever so neatly, he organised it from weapons, aid then ammo. It wasn't much. Firstly were his primary weapons next to his sidearms, few stims and an open space where his whiskey and other alcohol would be – turns out David drank the last few bottles of alcohol on the flight – that's why he never took copilot. He was sly.

Finally was his ammo. Scraps of .308, 5.56mm + AP, 5mm, 3.57mag, 9mm, 20 gauge and 40mm. It was a cluster-fuck amount; even David had no idea how much he was carrying on his back. Never weighed him down, so it wasn't a factor.

Redfield was confused on how little David cared about his wares, and how he handled the general management. "I don't even know where to start," Redfield said, rubbing his helmet he thought was his head. "Half this ammo you don't even use... You get your hoarding from your mother."

"That good?"

"Bad… I blame myself for the way I ran STARS. You like most prefer to have your ordinance planned out for you." Redfield chucks David the Shotgun. He caught it after a few fumbles. "Get a feel of that."

"OK." The Remington was 870 model. Loaded with eight rounds of 12 gauge. Pumps provided stronger range, damage and reliability. _Okay, it's better than the Model_ , David decided in his head.

"Here's how it goes. You'll be using the power armour and Avenger tomorrow, with the M4 and Remington 870 as your secondaries. Plus what else you can carry, so choose now."

"I learned the survival knife is always important. Some explosives would be nice, so I can still take some flash grenades." David takes his gold Browning HP from the table and holsters it back in the pouch connected to his waist. Knife was sheathed back over his left side of his chest. The flash grenades were put in a deep pocket opposite his handgun. Four in total. The pouch had more room for 9mm. The four pouches on his lower back remained empty.

"Is that made of gold?"

"Yeah." David takes the Browning from his holster and shows it to Redfield. "Got some woman engraved on it; looked cool so I stole it."

"Lady of Quadalupe, David."

"I'll call it Maria, heard it mumbled here and there. I'm not good when it comes to religion."

"She's a Roman Catholic."

"You say that like I should know," David replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Wasn't religious education in your school curriculum?"

"I hated RE."

"Then why did you take this? Wasn't because of the gold right?"

"A guy had it on him before I killed him."

Redfield felt concerned. "David you can't just go around killing people…"

"Chillax, Dad. The guy was an asshole anyway." David holstered Maria and slung the Remington where his Model once was and M4 over his other shoulder.

"Still… I'll put the rest of your things away for you to collect after the battle, they'll be safe here. I have your specialised ammunition." Redfield placed the basket on the table next to David's unused munitions. The scraps of unwanted ammo and resources.

"What's so special about the ammo anyway?"

"I still manufacture ammunition time to time." Redfield introduced the ammo to David, starting with the black boxes and ending with some red ones. "Two boxes of 5mm FMJ and 12 gauge flechette. The Legion will most likely be moderately armoured, while the Avenger can tear 'em apart regular 5mm and 12 gauge won't cut it."

"No probs." David pockets the special ammo into the empty pouches on his rear. A box fits well in each one. From the lack of .308 and 20 gauge, the clutter left more room for better rounds on otherwise limited carrying capacity. He was full but had the benefit of having top quality over scraps.

"I'd give you more, but you're running on borrowed space; only so many compartments to spare. Travelling light has its issues."

"Thanks."

"Least I can do. Light power armour requires hours of training to use, the heavier ones you see just needs the right frame and under-armour."

"Meaning?"

"I knew you wouldn't remember that during the demonstration. You'll need to put on a recon armour before the power armour, for optimised comfort, ability and control."

"What about this one?"

"Can't wear combat armour under it, only light armour or no armour. It's too bulky."

"Just gonna put in a locker then. Let it rot a bit," David said all pouty.

"Wastage, I know. Have you got a better use for it?"

"Could I lend it to someone to use for the battle?"

"Who do you have in mind?"

"Cass. I can't have her out there without any armour on; she'd get hurt. She's my wife. I can't let her out there the way she is now. Between you and me, she's not dressed to kill."

"I offered some armour to your group, all of them declined." Redfield leant on the table. "Maybe you can persuade her with the prototype."

"It's a fantastic armour; I'd recommend it."

"Any particular feedback you'd like to get off your chest? I'm interested in all feedback and comments on its design."

"Aren't you always." _Just like that author on that fan fiction website_. _Typical_.

"The durability to weight ratio is phenomenal," David continued, "though the cloaking ability I had to stop using because of the headaches. And from the STARS network bring down the headset was kaput. Not working at its full potential."

"Headaches? I know present Stealth Boys have a tendency to cause schizophrenia to the weak minded but their pre-war ancestors? I'm glad I discontinued their development."

"They need more work. And while on the topic about Cass I guess I can lend her my hunting rifle and hell, why not the M203?"

"Go for it. I'll get you your new armour." Redfield walked away to a locker that was just full of light armours. It was packed full, and he took out a compact black light armour with grey ballistic plates. He came back and presented it to David for him to take. It had hardly any thickness and protection to it. The limbs were made of treated black leather with the metal plates only covering the chest.

David knew he should honour the armour from the fact his father took some time trying to find it. He was always muttering around like it was a needle in a haystack. The damn thing was made of paper compared to the one he was wearing. "I'm not wearing that," David pointed out.

"You are."

"Not being funny, Dad but I'd rather go out there buck-ass naked than wear that. No offence."

"You did that before. Only you were drinking, and you streaked around headquarters. Remember that?"

"A bit..."

"For once… Now, do I have to force you to put it on like last time or are you gonna be a big man and do it yourself."

"Point taken." David took the armour from quickly from Redfield's hands. "That all?"

"There won't be time to make many trips, so you'll need to armour up now and bring it all to my office."

"What do you mean?"

"Wear it back to the Dam to save some time for tomorrow."

"OK..."

After placing his M4 and Remington on the table, after putting on the disgusting tight recon armour, David positioned himself behind the power armour. The power armour seemed to just open up after a small rotation of the crank, the inside looked like it was one size fit all like in the demonstration. It soon collapsed all over David, but with the recon armour, it was very comfortable with plenty of cushioning to spare.

The finishing touches were just the heads-up-display. Weapons, ammo, vitality status and interactive mapping were all there on all the corners of helmet's interior. Redfield checked out his Pip-Boy. "Got the kill-cam working for you, I'll upload it to a terminal in the war room later."

"Is this really the original STARS power armour?"

"The very same Alex was testing with the Avenger. The armour plates and pieces were hard to spruce up since the nuclear fallout, but I got them looking nearly brand new. I'm personally proud about that."

"Still running on the same power core? After all these years?"

"This like most pre-war power armours run on thorium, some ran on uranium. I powered it up during the development stages in 2020; I recall Scott stating that a thorium core lasts longer than uranium… up to a thousand years, compared to Uranium's eight-forty. All right, no lollygagging. Step out of the frame and break a leg, see how it feels. Hasn't been worn since our time."

The slow footsteps David took out of the frame were heavy and full of impact. With each thud and clump that echoed throughout the cave, the sounds of the footsteps could easily strike fear into the most seasoned veterans of war. David was dumbfounded to how much power he had with the armour on, took no effort to master the movements, and even in spite of the reduced flexibility. The strength was near Godlike, the gyros were flexible, and there was nothing to it. He felt like a Demigod himself.

"Brings a tear to my eye to see the power armour back in action. Now take your weapons and spin up the Avenger for me."

David slung his M4 and Remington over his shoulders but equips the Avenger in his big hand and turned the barrels, excitedly with a hold of a button near the grip. "This is a dream come true."

"Though it might be."

"The Avenger is soooo much lighter with the armour on; I feel the power working the magic. I can take on the world in this!"

"Now turn around, you need to feed the damn thing." Redfield placed the large steel container on David's back and fed the belt of ammunition into the Avenger CZ98 in his son's hands. It was a storage unit holding over five thousand 7.62mm FMJ, with a belt connected to David's Avenger CZ98.

"I'm so excited!"

"I'd make you more ammo, but you don't know how time-consuming it is to make 7.62mm FMJ from scratch. I only have so much free time a day."

"Am I ready to fight?"

"Are you?"

David took his gold Browning from his combat armour and put it in a small compartment over his right leg with some ammo for it in the left one. Then there were the empty four on his lower back. He carried over the specialised ammo into each of them. The compartments were larger than the pouches.

"Now I'm ready," David clarified.

"Yes. Yes, you are. Now we can bring all that shit to my office for you to get into the fray quickly and humanely as possible."

"Everything will be fine like this right?" David and Redfield made a mess of things in the armoury. Scraps of ammo, meds and some assortment of weapons were disorganised without care on the table.

"I'll get the night guy to clean that up." Redfield took David's burlap sack and took David's combat armour, the hunting rifle and M203 from the table for Cass. With the sack over his back, they both walked out of the unfinished vault. The bag weighed nearly thirty pounds. It was a slow walk.

Redfield asked David to wait for him on his very bird outside after straying off yet again to the weapons and ammo area of the armoury. Naturally, David obliged, despite thinking the power armour was too heavy to have inside the aircraft. The darkness surrounding the vertibird was silent, the howling of the local wolf was no longer audible. Inside the bird, he noticed the cockpit was considerably tinier. "What if I needed to fly in full armour?" David grumbled to himself. "I won't even bloody fit."

"That's why some people rather use the lighter models for these journeys."

David tried to sit down on a fold-out chair. It supported his weight and groaned as if it was going to break so he decided not to bother. "There's lighter models of power armour?"

"Lighter than the ones you're wearing, yes. Power armour are mostly used by the Brotherhood and Enclave. You can find the Brotherhood in the Capital, Commonwealth and here in the Mojave."

"And the Enclave?"

"Their base of operations was destroyed at Raven Rock a few years ago." Redfield flicked on some switched, and there was a slight humming sound coming from his side. "I prefer the heavy variants but I understand the wisdom using smaller, lighter power armour."

"Draws a fine line between the heavy and light variety, doesn't it?"

Redfield shrugged. "What to choose when you want the power of a walking tank without the crippling speed. It's not as good as their big brothers, but they're just as quicker."

During the always smooth ride back to the Dam, David had time to think to himself in silence. David could ride copilot because he's been drinking and he could fit so sitting in the back was all he could do if by sitting, he meant standing. Apparently, a design flaw in these walking tanks was a sitting down ability. The lighter models were able to sit and manoeuvre freely, at the cost of all that is structural defence and integrity.

David stared at the back of his father's head and the floor by his feet, fighting between the two. He was thinking about something deep. His father never gets much respect for everything he does for the world. In the days of the Raccoon City, he'd be the first one to die for the people in the name of good and righteous. He goes on about it a lot, but it really meant the world to him.

He was a legend in the short-lived days of the R.P.D., they moulded him into one, and he delivered. Started off as a humble yet eager police recruit and he then was one of the captains. People remembered and adored him because of his legacy and merit as chief and then a Demigod. People respect and stand by Redfield and talk about him with the highest opinions, but how many of them thanked him? He died so many times without a thank you.

"Dad," he called, lightly. Redfield turned his head but still faced away. "Thanks... Thanks for everything."

"Pardon?"

"Thanks for everything. If there is any chance something bad happens tomorrow, I want you to know I love you for everything you did for me as your son…"

"I don't know how to respond to that." Redfield nodded, and his long heavy sigh filled the vertibird. David as a father himself knows what a father actually needs once in awhile, a taste of what's to come and a reminder of what he's fighting for. It takes a father to know what another one wants. "Thanks, Son. Not only you write mushy stuff sometimes, but you are also capable of saying it too."

David was back in the barracks soon enough, and everyone was asleep. His power armour and his weapons were all waiting for him tomorrow in the General's office. He only had his recon armour on his person and his sack. Redfield took some .308JSP from his armoury to replace the vanilla .308; the rifle had an extended magazine and a smoother bolt. David felt naked without them. It was nice they were still close if he ever needed to equip them.

Cass had a negative expression on her face, her posture of her laying on her side facing away from the door spoke louder than words, and she was internally alone. He left her hanging again. All David could do right now was to set away from his new armour under his side of the bed and place his old armour under Cass' side. It was just gone 8 pm. This may be the only time for him to sleep.

From under the covers, David held Cass' naked body close to him. Some positive gestures and movement escaped her lips and hips, just showing how much she missed him. Was she feeling it now? Of all times? Still... If there was any day to stay close together with his love, it was tonight, before the battle. Because in war anything can happen. They need the sleep and a full rest.


	7. The legend behind Sarkis

Redfield was sat at his desk alone, wasn't doing anything above waiting for bugger all and drumming his fingers repeatedly on his desk. He had buzzed for Moore to come to his office for a private talk, the ones she usually likes, about their social lives as a whole, they had a complicated friendship. When she arrived he wasted no time before she can even begin to question him, he closed the door behind her and stood up from his comfy leather chair. She wasn't ready for bed just yet.

"Great timing."

"Redfield, you called?"

"Moore, we need to talk."

"You know I'm here for you. What's bothering you?"

"It's easier to show you."

Moore pointed to a brown bag on Redfield's desk. "What's in the bag, Redfield?"

"Nothing special."

Redfield used his Pip-Boy's interface to open another door inside his office, the one opposite his desk, not the med lab to his right, the secret wall opposite him. Another room that had some filing cabinets and cardboard boxes with a single light bulb, shine constant sound of the bulb buzzing could drive a man insane. Seemed innocent at first, just a small office storage to Moore's eyes, apart from a single bulb that just kills the ears with the freaking buzzing. It digits for a storage unit.

Redfield used his Pip-Boy's interface to open another door inside his office, the one opposite his desk, not the med lab to his right, the secret wall opposite him. Another room that had some filing cabinets and cardboard boxes with a single light bulb, shine constant sound of the bulb buzzing could drive a man insane. Seemed innocent at first, just a small office storage to Moore's eyes, apart from a single bulb that just kills the ears with the freaking buzzing. It digits for a storage unit.

Redfield picked up his small brown bag and went straight to the nearest filing cabinet. An ordinary metal filing cabinet, no different than the other five or six, hidden a small numeral digit pad inside one of the drawers he slid open. He then enters a long code; it was over twenty cyphers. After a faint beep, he held Moore's hand and waited for a few seconds. The way he massaged her hand with his was so warming she had to take slow breaths. That wasn't very common. It was so soothing.

The distinguishable metal floor was so that there were two shades of grey steel, with the darkest one being a circular dead in the middle. Soon the floor gave away, like slid open, turns out it was a secret elevator going down, further into the Dam. There were no safety rails, so Moore held onto Redfield tightly, the first time he saw her mildly shaken in a long time. She hated heights.

Down below was almost pitch black, only the faint sound of dripping water was noticeable. It was a room, more like a large open area. Redfield shined his Pip-Boy's light and walked towards a fireplace at the back. He took an oiled oak club net to the mantle and lit it up aflame with a flip lighter, illuminating around him and Moore. It was like a secret passage, one that could be used as an escape. That's what she'd use it for if she was a general.

Moore was in awe when she saw there was like a small shrine to something, a portrait that was covered with a purple curtain behind some old burnt out candles. Redfield replaced the old candles with new ones he removed from the bag he was carrying. They were fantastic candles, last well over a few weeks. Moore picked up a picture frame by her feet and gazed into it with a smile. It was a young couple in their early twenties; the setting was just a casual photo with casual wear.

"What is this you're showing me, Redfield?"

Redfield ignited the wooden logs and started the fire. It roared nicely without growing too large. "What do you know of Christianity, Cassandra?"

"Redfield…"

"What do you know about Christianity?" he repeated.

"I never personally delve into religion, Redfield. I live and act as my own person."

"I appreciate your honesty, and respect your answer, but that's not what I asked."

"I know you're Christian Redfield but what are you showing me exactly? Like these people in this picture. Who are they?"

"That is a picture of Zachariah Wesker and Claire Redfield."

"Wesker and Redfield? Wait. These are the same people in that wedding photo in the portrait on your desk."

"That is correct."

"Wesker… Redfield…" Moore placed her hand under her chin and thought to herself. She took the picture out from the frame and examined it top to bottom. Claire Redfield X Zachariah Wesker it said on the back. Just below it was also something else written. _Forgive me, never forget me. Please l_ _ove me…_ _One last time…_ "Just out of curiosity, are these Agent Wesker's parents?"

"Yes, they are."

"This information is telling me that you are related to the woman here… but you say Agent Wesker is your son..."

"Because, in reality, he is."

"No… That means… _you're_ Zachary Wesker? The one is this photo?"

"Yes I am. I'm just… really old."

"How is that possible?"

"Oh, that's the _fun_ part."

Redfield pulled down the purple curtain, exposing a tall portrait of a religious figure. It was a male angel with flawless feathery white wings, stood gracefully with its arms folded. He was in his mid forties and looked visually healthy for his age, with long flowing auburn hair and beard. For some strange reason, Moore knew the figure's identity from legends of the Old World. The discoloured eyes were a notable feature. Gold and crimson. It was mostly in folklore.

"I've seen this before."

"Really?"

Moore took the flaming torch from his hand and shined it brightly into the heart of the portrait. "One thing I _do_ know about Christianity is that there was a Demigod by the name of Sarkis. He lived along with humanity in secrecy but no one believed it to be true. It was written that he served Jesus Christ himself as his apprentice in the ways of being a God. As his herald, student and friend."

Redfield glared at Moore. He was more confused than she was if she was at all. "How would you know?"

"There's a legend behind him, plus, I read a pre-war Bible one day when I was bored." Moore continued over Redfield's question, "One day there was an accident, before the Great War. War, one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, challenged Sarkis to a heated battle for the sake of the world, the battle that would decide the future of the human race. But a great tragedy happened. War defeated Sarkis and caused the Great War, forcing Sarkis into exile for his defeat. Rumours suggest that Sarkis still walks the Earth, with the sins of his downfall weighing him down, longing to be judged by the Elder Gods he failed. This as all from a Bible before the whole religion died out. Felt like a load to be honest, the War wasn't decided by fictional nonsense."

"I'm impressed that you know this much. I came down here thinking how to explain everything without stuttering like a moron properly." Redfield took out scraps of paper out of his pocket and discarded them. It was a few scraps, more than a handful. "Prepared a speech and everything. Not getting those two hours back."

"Unless you wanted to show me you're some Sarkis fanatic is there anything else you wanted to add? It's getting pretty late." Moore gazed upon the majestic portrait of Sarkis and the picture of David's parents. The couple stood proudly together. _What a beautiful couple_.

"The legends are wrong, Cassandra," Redfield murmured. "There was no accident." Moore glared at him with a questioning look, and before she found her voice, he carried on, "Sarkis wasn't defeated. He was murdered…"

"What are you talking about?" Moore said, shaking slightly.

"It was 2054 Sarkis did battle with an Ashford, a Drusilla Ashford. The bitch that caused the Great War, and the one who wiped out my family… War…"

"Your family? What are you saying? Were you there or something?"

 _You must realise that if you reveal me,_ a heavenly voice whispered into Redfield's head, _General, my position would be compromised. That would put us both in danger._

 _This is what I want. She has to know the truth because she deserves to, as did my son."_

 _I understand. This is your life, not mine. I had my time and failed, least I can do is let you live yours._

 _Thank you, Sarkis. You were always the better part of me._

 _It was inside you all along,_ Sarkis chuckled lightly. _You birthed me after all. I hope this pays off…_

Redfield took off his helmet and stood in between her and the portrait of Sarkis; his baldness caught her attention enough for her to focus more on his different eyes, the eyes she never noticed. His left is pure gold and the other being blood crimson. Like the eyes of Sarkis. His skin was dry, wrinkled and lifeless with deep scars compared to Sarkis' younger, fuller face and body tone.

"Redfield what are you doing? Put your helmet back on."

"This is what Redfield wanted to show you, Cassandra. Look at portrait and now back to me. What do you see?"

"Your strange eyes and his..." Moore focused her eyes on the fire's flame then slowly stared at the portrait, finishing back to Redfield. "Something doesn't add up…"

"Look into Sarkis' eyes and then back to me. What do you _see_?"

Moore's eyes shifted and darted between Redfield and the portrait of Sarkis, paying more and more attention to their eyes. They were the same, the resemblance was uncanny. Flawless gold and blood crimson.

"Sarkis?" Moore whispered with shock.

"That I am, my child. Now back to the picture frame in your hands. When you see the couple, what do you see?"

"Zachariah and Claire..."

Redfield placed his hands over his temples and closed his eyes. After some seconds he opened them and his eyes changed. They were both solid gold. "Look into my eyes again, Cassandra…"

Moore backed away slowly from sudden grief. She couldn't even. She couldn't even understand. She was talking with a Demigod, who was her best friend this entire time. "But you can't be Sarkis; you can't be… You're dead," she stuttered.

"Cursed, not dead. He was a part of me this whole time, living inside my head."

"You do… That's… unhealthy… And what of the photo?"

"That was me, and my first wife." Moore focused more on the beautiful, red-haired young woman. "Claire Redfield was the love of my life. I slept with many women back in my time as a superhuman, hell Sarks even spent extraordinary moments with Gods and Mystics in his heyday. But my heart belonged to her. After my death against War, the things Ashford did to my love..." Redfield sobbed quietly; they were stifled, with salty tears running down his wrinkled face. "I couldn't even recognise what was left of her when I saw the remains." He started to cry intensely, but only for a few seconds as he wiped all the tears away. " I changed my name to hers as a form of remembrance."

More felt heartbroken over Redfield's trauma and shed some tears of sympathy herself. Such a great unfortunate soul, reduced to such misery was gut wrenching. She felt useless. "I don't know what to say, Redfield. Only that I…" She sighed heavily.

"That is what I wanted to show you, Cassandra. The fiery passion and love I once had were ripped away from my heart when my family was wiped out by that very Ashford. I can't go through with all that again."

"And where does that leave David?"

"My eldest from before the War." Redfield put his helmet back on before he started to feel the burning urge to vomit. The movement was swift. He took time to master a good equip of his helmet in case of this moment. "I showed you what I needed to. I showed you why I cannot love you, and why there's no future for us."

"You loved me?"

He hesitated. "I cannot, not after… The people I loved have long since been forgotten. I can't begin to get involved in a relationship, knowing the pain it'll cause me. Love is dead to me…"

"But Redfield I always liked you more than a friend."

"After everything I said, Cassandra? I have an exiled Demigod carrying the burden and sins of his past living inside my head and I'm ten times your age. Hell, I have an adult son near your age… I'm living a lie as Redfield and not Wesker. Knowing all that, how can there be a future for us together?"

"No one is perfect. I'm feeling it every time I'm around you..."

"Feeling what?"

"Your determination and love for what's good and right. You've always been there for the N.C.R., the people and... and me..." Moore took a deep breath and finally admitted with heart, "Wesker... I love you... All of your burdens makes you a better man, a man I _want_ to be with..."

The General was a loss for words.

In the barracks, late morning, David was just waking up from his slumber. Just then as the satisfaction of sleeping with loved ones was very much appealing it was time to wake, from the comfortable beds, the morning was spoiled by the sun shining brightly through the thick windows, being a dick.

David was expecting a meaner wakeup call, like alarms or gunfire, the battle hasn't started yet. As usual, Boone was wide awake in full armour before David could even rub the crap from his eyes. He appeared to be keen and peppier than the day before, still wasn't enough to crack a smile from him. though. Still a better alarm than gunfire or explosions. That would be a shame.

"Rise and shine, David. Ready for the big day?"

"Boone, again? Seriously?" he yawned.

"I got you. I'll wait for you outside." Boone exited the barracks quickly.

"Great… Another battle." David sat up and groaned. "I am not looking forward to this."

Cass sat up and stretched. "Might be fun, Dave." She yawned adorably.

"Having you at my side is all I need." David smiled, his comment had made Cass blush.

"No one lives forever." She kisses David and gets out of bed. "I'm sure as hell ready for whatever those Legion pussies send my way." She got dressed quickly. Starting with her socks and torn jeans.

David got out of bed and placed his recon armour on the bed, before putting on his casual boxers and shirt. "Do you know what we're up against?"

"Not a clue. It takes a lot to surprise me, though, which is exciting. With you taking charge and the rest of us backing you up what could possibly go wrong?"

"I die again?"

Cass buttoned her blouse and cardigan and glanced at David. "Come now, don't say that. We'll be fine, you'll see." She slung her Caravan shotgun over her shoulder. "I'm ready for anything. Keep calm and be careful and we'll both leave this battle with a smile."

"Not without winning."

"That too." Cass walked to David. "What's the point of a good fight if you don't win?"

"My thoughts exactly." David places his hand softly on Cass' cheek and kisses her lips."

"Suppose we better go find the bosses?"

"Actually there's some armour under the bed for you."

"I'd rather keep my gear light."

"It's my old armour."

"Really? I was gonna say something about you not wearing it but..." Cass picks up David's STARS combat armour from the bed and compares it to her body. "Will it fit?"

"One size fits all."

"If it makes me half as sexy as you then that's all I need to hear." She takes off her cardigan and puts on David's STARS combat armour. It was warm, and even though it felt tight at first, it was a perfect fit. "It's still warm, luv."

"I'll show you how to use it."

"I used combat armour before, Dave."

"Not this one." David stepped behind Cass and held her right arm up. "I customised it myself. A long time ago."

Cass enticed David and lets him do his thing. "Be gentle…" She bites her lip. His breath caressed the hairs on the back of her neck.

David chuckled. "You know how to push my buttons don't you?" He steps behind Cass and holds her right hand and shows a small red button on her palm. "Press that one and be careful of your fingers."

With her middle finger Cass pressed the small red button near her palm, it activated David's wrist blades. At marvellous velocity from her knuckles, two blades sprung out, reaching at ten inches. Cass was scared as much as she was surprised, the edges were smooth on one side and serrated on the other, not your everyday steel.

"Holy shit! That's nasty."

"Done it up myself."

"What is this?"

"Wrist blades. Ten inches of solid steel coated with a ceramic layer."

"How do I sheath them?"

"Press the button again."

Cass sheathed the wrist blades. They shot back into the compartment over her right wrist. "Wow… so sensitive."

"Yeah… be careful with them. Don't want you to lose a finger now. Might need them when I'm not around."

"Hilarious..."

David reaches for his helmet and puts it over Cass' head. There was plenty of room in there. "The headset and cloaking systems are kaput, but the armour itself will keep you safe; saved my life more than once." He kissed Cass' cheek.

"What about you?"

"I got new armour." David reaches for the recon armour and tests the weight in his hands. It felt even worse. "I think of it as a temporary downgrade."

"This I gotta see."

With great reluctance, David put on the dark skin-tight light armour in front of Cass. The sheer feel of it was underwhelming, very light, tight, thickened leather and not the same as his original. The steel plates on the chest, knees and elbows were decent but couldn't even be compared to the durability of his prototype armour. The thickened leather could barely stop the edge of a blunt knife.

Cass laughed. "That looks way too tight on you!"

"I feel icky."

"You look too damn sexy."

"I figured." David rummaged around under his side of the bed for his burlap sack and took out his hunting rifle and M203. He let Cass take them from his hands. "These are for you too."

"Wow. Thanks, luv, I may need them." Cass slung the hunting rifle over her other shoulder and holstered the M203 in a rear holster on her armour, one he previously used for it.

"How about something for the road?" David snickers and sweeps Cass of her feet before delivering a kiss. "I meant ammo, but that'll keep me going the whole day, you animal," she purred, biting her lip.

"Easy mistake." David emptied his sack over their bed and boxes of .308JSP, and 40mm grenade shells tumbled out. The tips of the grenade were all different. Two of the six were red, another two were yellow, and the last two were grey. Meaning two were filled with super hot napalm, the other two were filled with corrosive sulphuric acid, and the last ones were conventional explosives. He hoped Cass knows the dangers of explosives and using them. General safety 101. "Here are some grenades."

"Really?" She picked up a red-nosed grenade shell. It fit in her hand and generated heat. "Napalm. Right?" She slots all six grenade shells in a bandoleer over her right forearm. They fit perfectly for each projectile. "I'll be careful with them."

"You just about ready to get this show on the road?"

"You bet! Let's make history. I'll uhh, see you in the war room handsome."

David let Cass back on her feet and let her out the door, though he caught her attention again by slapping her firm ass. Cass pointed to David with a grin, thinking of something witty to say but just left with a defeated giggle. Couldn't think of anything witty to say.

"Yeah… I know how to pick them all right. Wives make the best of friends, or do friends make the best of wives? Both?" David cackled.

David firmly believed that the ones to an early start have an earlier finish and what better way to share that than to wake up William and Lyannah. They look much rested in each other's arms, it was cute, to say the least. Who knew such a brutish woman looked almost adorable, in the arms of a decent fellow like Will. She shows a lot more joy around him, that's for sure. What was his secret?

David called out Will's name aloud to no avail, but Lyannah woke up quickly almost on instinct. "Oh dear me. My head is spinning," she mumbled, breathlessly.

"Rise and shine sleepyhead. Burning daylight."

"Daylight? What time is it?"

"Half-eight. We should meet up in the war room while we can, the battle hasn't started yet."

"No problem Agent, we'll be there," she said with baited breath. David leaves the barracks. "Good, we still have time."

William wakes with a yawn. "Lyannah? Time to get up already?"

"Correct."

William retracts his head and sighs. "Let's just get it over with."


	8. Lyannah's power

Redfield was waiting outside his office for David to arrive. The soldiers running around left and right made it hard to pinpoint which one was David. The small talk with the guard outside his office was the only thing keeping him from blowing his brains out and dying of boredom. At the point David arrived, Redfield uttered a witty remark about his new armour, something about it being snug and tight. David wasn't amused. Redfield walked him into his office, behind locked doors as usual.

It wasn't long before Redfield got David into his power armour and armed him up, ready for battle. David spun up the Avenger excitedly. There was still time to enjoy the day, get a feel of the power he had inside the armour.

Suddenly, a long bellowing air raid siren blares throughout the Dam, with red lights shining thick and fast. With furious body movements, he knew it was happening. A really, really awful day was ahead of him. Another attack.

"Already?"

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes," Redfield sighed. "The Legion are attacking the Dam."

"Let's rock 'n' roll! Where do you want me?"

"Get to the visitor centre and regroup with your team."

"What about the Dam?"

"I have Brotherhood reinforcements helping our defences. Lead the attack now while we hold them off here."

"Roger that." David goes to leave Redfield's armoury but is stopped by him.

"David!" Redfield called. "I'm counting on you to lead a team to victory. Remember everything I taught you. Got it?"

David looks back to Redfield. "Do you expect anything less from me?" David left the office, out of earshot.

The P.A. system suddenly came on; it was Colonel Moore. "General Redfield, please report to the war room immediately!"

Redfield sighed. "Fucking hell. Here we go again."

David ran at a brisk jogging pace to the visitor centre outside the office, just past the power plant 01, the first northernmost of four power plant sections. All of the power plants had the same layouts: large open area with two giant turbines, with a middle and top tier catwalk, each with a set of stairs.

The N.C.R. and Brotherhood were suppressing the Legion pretty well, from the doors and catwalks the Legion just kept coming. The Brotherhood had power armour too, David thought they'd be all right if it's half as good as the one he's wearing. The Legion just kept coming, crawling over each other for a quick kill.

Up in the visitor centre were some soldiers in unpowered armour, the smaller alpha series. They were apparently standing by for further orders. Huddled around the reception desk was his team, Boone, Cass, Lyannah and William.

On the reception desk were some first-aid boxed from the Followers, a soldier at heart David took what was left, just a single psycho, med-x and a stimpack. David had no idea what the first two chems do; he took them anyway for later. It was picked clean by everyone else.

Lyannah was anxious to tear up trouble with her assault carbine, with William and his .308 hunting rifle standing close by her. Boone and Cass had their rifles in hand, and in their armour, Cass' being the best-looking one. Before any words could be said, David got a call on his headset from Redfield, behind the temporary static he spoke clearly into his ear.

"Son, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

"I'm back with Oliver and Moore in the war room. I'll keep an eye on you best I can. Is your HUD working?"

"Yeah."

"Good, you'll need that. Just remember your training and stay safe."

"I will, Dad, don't worry." Suddenly, a loud thundering explosion outside shook the Dam, the shockwave pulsed and echoed everywhere. Everyone in the visitor centre held their grounds from the sudden quake. Some soldiers collapsed, many stood firm.

"I forgot to warn you about our defensive countermeasures, my bad."

"What just happened? The whole ruddy Dam shook!"

"Tear gas. Oliver thought it would be a fabulous idea to flood the Dam with it."

"That sounds like a bad one."

Cass overheard David. "Who are you talkin' to?"

"Just keep an eye on your minimap and your vision settings set to thermal, it should be working. I'm going silent now; I need to keep focused on the Mojave's forces. Keep your group safe, Son." Redfield disconnected the call from his side.

"Later Dad."

"Are we moving on or not, Agent? I didn't come here to waste my time." Lyannah moaned impatiently.

William glanced at David. "When you gotta go you gotta go. Do you want to keep a woman waiting?"

"The generals gave us clearance." David was still spinning up the Avenger, whirring rhythmically to a free beat. "Let's go kick some Legion ass!"

Outside on Hoover Dam, the setting from the top of the large stone monument was oddly quiet and tame, apart from the N.C.R. soldiers screaming their battle cries. The Legion must've ceased their fire from the obscured visuals from the smoke, even David's thermal lens couldn't pick up anything, it wasn't WORKING, none of the particular lenses was operational. It was just the matter of marching the Dam through the smoke, maximising his efficiency as a walking tank.

Without the gunfire, it suddenly went silent, to David it was unsettling, to say the least. Whatever William pondered on the current situation, almost looked like he shared the same idea as David. Lyannah was getting restless, she unsheathed her dark sword and seemed to relish the thought of an imminent attack. With a smile, she ran in with her sword with a charge equal to David's. Some leader he was. She was too eager and couldn't be tamed.

The closer the five got to the smoke the thinner it was. As they came upon it, Boone and Cass lied in wait behind the sandbags not far off David's side. The urge to slow down a bit was almost mandatory, not everyone slowed down, though. Lyannah kept her pace and sprinted sword first into the thinning smoke. She was already gone. The smoke had claimed her, and the sounds of gunfire were softly audible.

"Damn it, LYANNAH!" William and David shouted, with a quick look to one another they both had the same idea again and raced after her. She didn't even look back.

William didn't get far. The smoke ripped at his throat and nostrils, making him regret not bringing his helmet more than ever. There was no way he could pass through the smoke; he had to resort to an alternative otherwise primitive option.

"Lyannah!" William called, keeping his tone of voice low enough to not give away his exact position. There was no telling who were lurking around. There was no reason for the Legion to hold back. If Lyannah could press through the smoke so could anyone else. What's stopping them?

David was heard struggling beyond the smoke; he was stomping around it almost seemed as if he was having a bit of a tussle with a Legionnaire or two, though no gunfire was heard all of a sudden. "Come on, Lyannah!" William repeated, the tension was rising to a horrible feeling of despair. She couldn't have ventured on without the rest of us, could she? It would be beyond dangerous, suicidal even. She's done reckless acts like this in the past, but on a numbers game, this one could be her last if nothing turned up.

Then he heard quick footsteps coming ahead. Crouching behind the sandbags next to Boone William stared into the smoke, where the footsteps were last heard. At the time someone has seen it wasn't Lyannah nor David. A machete ripped through the smoke, immediately followed by the Legionnaire who was swinging it.

Boone rolled away to his side, just missing the crude weapon. He was too close for his rifle but too far for his machete, in which he doesn't know why bothers to bring it. Never used it.

The Legionnaire didn't give Boone much time, immediately twisting his body towards him for a second strike. As his arm stretched over to deliver the blow, something exceptionally swift out of the smoke, cleaved the arm in half from the elbow.

The Legionnaire's lower arm soared away out of sight. Out of shock and disbelief, he gazed upon his stump for an arm, shortly thereafter he panicked and screamed while it spurted with blood.

Boone stood up and blew the Legionnaire's head to pieces with a crude smirk. From there William and Boone knew their cover was compromised. Before the Legionnaire's body fell to the ground, someone came flying out of the smoke behind the would-be-assailant, ripping him down to the ground behind the sandbags next to Will. The timing was top notch, as hails of gunfire started from the other side back at David, probably all because of Boone, whom took cover behind the sandbags to the left next to Cass and ceased their fire.

Of course, it was Lyannah who took the man down. A quick look down her bloody sword indicates it was her who disarmed the Legionnaire. "That's it," Lyannah stated happily, sheathing her sword. "Right in the thick of it all. The signs of a real battle."

"You're enjoying this way too much, more so than usual," William muttered, bracing himself against the sandbags. "How's David holding up?"

"He's performing admirably," Lyannah stated.

As the smoke finally went away it became apparent that the five were at a disadvantage, Lyannah was right, they were in the thick of it. Both sides held their positions outside the smoke and were tightly bunched up. The Legion, on the other hand, seemed like they were spread apart. The only conciliation, David was soaking up the Legion's damage and thus taking the focus off the other four, Boone Cass, Lyannah and William were all away from the Legion's vision.

"We haven't got much time before the Legion advances," William spoke quietly, nodding towards the Legion's side. "If we don't do something they'll mow us down."

Lyannah shook her head and chuckled morbidly. "It's an ambush. If we can get the Legion to advance past us, we can catch them from behind." William scoffed at the idea but noticed David's fire was dying down; their time was running thin.

The long bursts of sustained damage shredded the Legionaries apart easily without proper precision. The 7.62mm tore flesh from their bones and ripped their limbs from the joints in a bloody massacre; no Legionary was spared the cruel flay. Piles of Legionaries slumped left and right in bloody piles, each one down, and there was another two charging into the fray without any regard for their health.

When they weren't screaming Caesar's name, launching themselves at David, some were mobilising at the back. David wasn't able to see through the gas; the Legionaries had the decency to attack first, so it all worked out for him in the meantime. A small squad in heavier armour and weapons were approaching. They all had gas masks. David caught a glimpse of them and couldn't figure out the high priority targets. The gas was still thick.

"What's your current status, Son?" Redfield blared, over David's headset.

"The tear gas only stalled the Legion's attack! Their numbers built up and I'm burnin' through ammo already!" David stressfully said.

"Come on David, think! You can do this, I know it! Must be something you can use to your advantage," Redfield growled.

"Look through my kill-cam and give me something to go on!" David cried, cooling down his Avenger. The weapon was air cooled, and after the sustained fire, it could intentionally melt. He wanted to avoid that entirely. "Always open to your advice."

"Stand by, Son, I'll be back." Redfield calmly said without a single word more.

"Dad!" David cried, as he was brought to his knee from a nearby explosion down by his left leg. Didn't even hurt in any way but it brought him down from the force alone. The sound of the blast was dull, and it rang inside his head. "DAMMIT!"

"David, pull back. We have a plan." William delicately said, from behind the sandbags.

"Better be a good one," David Muttered, with reluctance.

The sound of boots marching against the pavement caught everyone's attention. David followed William's plan and faked a retreat towards the visitor centre. With the Legion's sights fixed on David, he fired back and lured them all forward and promptly stepped back quickly and more often than the step before.

With no more or less than twenty men all spraying their weapons at David, he was successful in bringing them past Boone, Cass, Lyannah and Will. With him distracting the Legion's forces and kiting them into a kill zone, it's up to the others to mow them down. It was harder said than done, the Legion mercilessly chased after David, even in spite of their ballistic weapon failing to hurt him. They weren't that heavy.

Changing their positions on the other side of the sandbags David's team made their move. Out of the blue, William opened fire from behind the Legion, with Boone and Cass supporting him soon after. William did not typically shoot people in the backs, but for once he didn't care. He was wiser since his Raider days, but more importantly, it was war. Back and forth along with Boone and Cass, they dropped a Legionnaire every second. Their high calibre .308 rounds recoiled and heaved, piercing through their armour that split their bodies apart.

With a slight growl, Lyannah discarded her carbine and stood from the sandbags, replacing her fury and surprise with stalwart determination. Her firearm was jammed, and she wasn't loaded to tackle armoured opponents.

"No, Lyannah! Are you out of your mind?!" William screamed, distracting his fire.

By now, the eyes of all the fighters were fixed on Lyannah, but so were the Legion's weapons. In few moments, she would be shredded to pieces. David damned himself if he was going to get Lyannah hurt on his account, he charged at the lingering Legionaries with his Avenger and tried to force their attention on him. He needed their focus to save the group; it was the purpose of a tank. To steamroll and push over the opposition. To take the damage so they don't. David swatted as many of them as he physically could, but it all was in vain. He was too slow. The Legion didn't bat an eye.

Lyannah drew a sharp breath, and shouted, "Zun HAAL VIIK!"

With unnatural strength, the force of her voice whirled up the dust in front of her. Her voice was of such magnitude it shook the entire Dam, even causing some Legionaries to lose their footing. As if it acted upon some invisible force, the Legionaries' weapons were all ripped from their fingers and hurled all over the place, leaving most shaken and not stirred.

It was like magic, but not like the one she previously demonstrated that time in the barracks. The shout wasn't the end of it, though. David, Boone, Cass and Will watched her, as did the Legionaries, she extended her one arm towards the Legionaries. Arcs of an electrical charge crackled up her spine, around her body and through her arm into her palm, forming a blue ball of energy. With the arcs charging between her fingers, it took seconds to build a full charge to extend to the Legionaries, who were unfortunate to be on the business end of Lyannah's wrath. Lightning as quick as the speed of light hit all the Legionaries and entangled them with a horrible blue blur.

The electricity let loose, firing towards her foes like thunderbolts, so bright it built up and drowned out the blistering sun. The sheer sound of the terrifying bolts were the likes no one has ever heard before, the only sound to rise above it were the agonising screams of the Legionaries. Flesh bubbled, and muscles spazzed out of order.

Soon the screaming ceased, and once Lyannah was satisfied, she closed her fist, ending it all as fast as it started. The smell of burning flesh and ashes blew throughout the Dam, clouded with an eerie silence. The leftover bodies that weren't all ash had some faint reminder of their likeness; the rest were torn apart. Ripped and shredded. The really nasty stuff of war. Like the wars of Tamriel.


	9. Taking charge

"Wha… What the shouting about?" William exclaimed, mouth agape. With a crude smirk, Lyannah faced the others. "A Thu'um. Dragon shout. I have the blood of a Dragon, coursing through my veins, with its power under my control," Lyannah explained. What she said didn't tell much, hell it just held more questions. David had come over, even behind his helmet his surprise was evident with his frantic twitching.

"What the fuck was that!?" David stuttered, before getting confused with even more words. "I never saw anything like that before! What kind of magic was that?" he questioned.

Lyannah nodded slowly, leading the team away from the smouldering bodies towards their objective. "It is an extraordinary power above magic. It takes some time before I can use the Dragon language once more, I only used it this time because it was an emergency. I try to save them for problematic moments."

"That was only a problem? Felt like an emergency."

"Your emergencies are different than my problems."

There was no exact number of how many Legionaries Lyannah had killed with her magic, but with the seamless walking through a field of bodies, it felt as if the Legion's offensive was obliterated in an instant. Looking back at it all, the bodies were charred and smoked, some even faintly burning. Whatever left of their faces was contorted in excruciating pain, their bodies laid twisted and mangled.

Stepping through the pile of charred bodies, David tried to reach Redfield through his headset. "Dad, are you there?"

"Loud and clear. What's your current status?" Redfield said, with interest.

"I have depleted a quarter of the Avenger's ammunition capacity, but we pulled through the Legion offensive. Lyannah decimated like… twenty men. The word magic just doesn't cover it. I can tell you for certain whatever she is she's not human."

With moderate silence, Redfield breathed. "Honestly I'm as surprised as you are."

"What was up with the standby earlier?" David said, slowing his pace. "Is the Dam holding up okay over there?"

There was another pause. "The Dam is fine, but for how much longer I don't know," Redfield said with great haste. "They're infiltrating from somewhere within, and I can't find an exact location."

With the sounds of faint gunfire heard over the headset, David stood still in fear. "What's going on over there? Are you under attack?!"

"Stand by Son. There's something wrong happening outside the war room," Redfield quickly said, before being silenced by an explosion from his side. It almost shattered David's eardrums.

"Dad? DAD!" David cried, while Cass and Boone came over to him. "What's happening? Can you read?!"

With heavy gunfire flooding the background on the other side, David was freaking out to hear screaming and shouting. Redfield's stressed out and barked orders over the commotion. "Fuck! Dammit, the Legion's here! Moore, Oliver, get out now!"

"Hold on; I'm coming!" David howled, as he took off back to the visitor centre as fast as he could. At top speed below the average walking pace, David was out of breath faster than usual. His thoughts were spent on happy ones like praying for his father's safety.

"DAVID!" Cass screamed, reaching out for David.

The gunfire and cries from Redfield's headset were thinning out but never died down, with Redfield's tone becoming more and more tired and stressed. "They're coming out of the damned walls!" he cried. "Get out! All of you get out of my DAM! You… FUCK! ARGH!"

After some tumbling and feedback, all but static clouded Redfield's side. David feared the worst and stopped in his tracks. "DAD! Dad..." David cried, with deflating breaths, he stood in failure. Cass and Boone had rushed to him to wonder around his erratic behaviour.

"David, what's wrong with you?" Cass said, holding David's hand.

With a wild guess from David's posture and current tension, Boone had a rough idea of the situation. "It's the Generals, isn't it? Boone uttered, panning his eyes back and forth. "I gotta go help them!"

Boone took off like a bat out of hell, and ran for the visitor centre, leaving Cass with David. David had no recollection of everyone's actions, but Cass did. Boone was gone, and William and Lyannah strayed off. Their company was helpful while it lasted.

"BOONE!" she called, at the top of her voice, with Boone briefly checking back on her. "Be careful!"

With a smile and a thumbs up Boone disappeared into the fray, rifle first. Cass tried to slap some sense into David, he mostly went on and on about mindless jargon until he broke, placing his hands on his head in frustration.

"I wasn't trained for this! I can't even…"

"David, focus! We're in the middle of a fight here, snap out of it!" Cass stated, shaking David as hard as she could. "Dave, honey… What's happening to you?" Cass stared at David's face for some time, hoping to see his face through his thick lens. With teary eyes, Cass held David close and cared about David's current state. He was falling apart.

"Humanity..." David uttered, with a rough tone before getting his bearings. "I'm… sorry. This is all new to me; I don't even know how to respond to any of this."

"I'll tell you how to react. Look around. Everyone's split, Boone, Will and Lyannah," Cass sternly addressed, before hitting David's chest. "We need to finish what we started and get back to Will and Lyannah. Make sure they're okay." Slowly and surely David nodded, in response to Cass' opinion.

"You lead the way," he said, "I'll be your support."

"I'll give it a shot," Cass smugly said with pride. Before she could take a step, she collapsed onto her hands and knees in crippling pain. "Dammit! What the fuck?" Only two seconds in the leadership department and she already collapsed on her hands and knees, and not in the way she wanted. Her ankles were weak.

"Cass?!"

Behind all her ego, Cass swallowed her pride once again and sat helplessly on the ground, trying to get up with no chance of success. She didn't want to trip over her feet all day. "Man, this is embarrassing. Care to help a woman up, luv?" she pleaded, extending her arm to David.

"Can you walk? David wondered, with nothing short of a disapproving nod from Cass. "I'll take care of you."

David picked up Cass with one arm and held the Avenger with the other, being mostly impressed with the strength David has in the armour Cass held on tight while David walked, escorting her through the field.

It wasn't easy to comprehend the sheer magnitude of destruction that seemed to all lead to Lyannah, from David's view her power was only bested by Sarkis. Though he knew his father would never mutilate anyone the way Lyannah did, quite literally disfiguring the entire Legion's advances in her wake. Sometimes David wondered if anyone deserved the fate Lyannah forced on them. Would mercy or surrender be in the Legion's vocabulary? Would they prefer being outright mangled by a Higher Being than giving up?

Cass and David came to a checkpoint; it was a makeshift shack. Inside was messy, teaming with scraps of junk, with lockers and metal boxes strewn about with nothing of interest inside. There was another Follower supply kit on the table; another stimpak, med-x and psycho was left for him. There was room for more, but someone must've ravaged its contents before they took the scraps.

With two of each, it was time to heal up, Cass looked battered and desperately needed a quick fix. David set Cass down on the table in the middle and exited his power armour to tend to her. With a stimpak to her. She sprung back on her feet with confidence, and David felt rejuvenated to see a remarkable recovery.

Cass smacked her lips with delight. "Now that feels good."

"At least it was a minor injury. If something happened to you I… I don't know how I would cope."

Cass leant on the middle table. "Come now, don't be like that. I'm fine, really. My ankle was just sprained."

"Your accidents and injuries seem to happen often and strangely related to one-another. Are you sure you're okay?"

"As clear as daylight. But what happened back there with you? You were crying pretty badly out there. Something about dad?"

"Redfield. He's my dad, my real dad."

"I had my suspicions about you two being very close, but after all the years you were gone for. Is it possible?"

David leant on the table next to Cass. "He has his ways."

"Between you and me, how did he live as long as you take him for? It's a bit of a mystery to the N.C.R."

"He's like me only there's something _within_ him that's keeping him from dying of age. He simply doesn't die of it..."

"That'll do it nicely."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Will it make me blush?"

David took out some med-x and psycho out of his pocket. "What the hell are these?"

"Chems. Med-x kills the pain and psycho help dish it out. Why?"

"I never used these before."

"I have a heart condition; I don't care for them."

"You have a heart condition?"

"I just have a weak heart, and I just fuckin' hate chems in general."

David hands Cass a stimpak. "Take this then; I'll keep the chems."

"Aye, aye, captain," she said with a fading smile.

"I haven't earned that title yet; I'm still learning." David stepped back into the power armour with a turn of the valve. "Let's get back out there."

Outside the checkpoint, the path from under the towers was engulfed in flames. There were no bodies anywhere, the Legion's assault seemed to be absent, and all resistance appeared to be gone. The gate to the Legate's Camp was detected afar, beyond a small hill. Naturally, David and Cass walked there, hoping Lyannah and Will didn't get into too much trouble without them.

From a short trek behind, just outside the Checkpoint were three people, calling David's name aloud. It was a wounded Redfield, wrapping his arm tightly around Boone's shoulder, and what would seem to be a Brotherhood Paladin next to them. Redfield had no signs of wear nor tear, but he held onto Boone's shoulder for his dear life, clutching his chest. David, happy to see his dad still standing spared no time to come over.

"I thought you were a goner!"

"You know I survived worse. I nearly phoned it in back there, though."

"Good to walk, General?"

"Thanks to you, Mr Boone." Boone lets him stand on his own. "There's a raise for you back at my office after all this."

"I found them both back in Hoover Dam; they looked they needed some help," the Paladin said, in a familiar female tone. A certain kind person from 188. An eager woman.

"Veronica?"

"That's my name," Veronica said. "Don't wear it out."

"Ready to storm the camp?" Redfield slung his BAR from his aching shoulder. "Not far left to go."

"Good. I'd like to know what happened back in the war room. Your side went all haywire."

"A squad of Legion Frumentarii infiltrated too close to home and stormed everyone at the war room; were too much for our security at the time. Me, Oliver and Moore would've died if it wasn't for Boone and Veronica here."

"Are they okay?"

"They got out fine. Can't say the same for the others there at the time. I was trying to get a hold of you, but they fucked up the comms from my end."

"Don't need the comm system anyway." David stepped to Veronica. "Veronica. What are you doing here?"

"To help you guys. I wanted to help so much I went back home and dusted off my mother's power armour and my old LAER, just to for you."

"LAER?"

"Laser Assisted Energy Rifle. Back when Elijah was in the Big MT. I just needed one reason to put this stuff to good use, and I found it."

"By fighting with us? We're glad to have you aboard, Veronica."

Redfield took the lead and examined David's group. "Any particular reason you're missing two bodies, David?"

"Lyannah and Will carried on without us while I got distracted from that explosion at the Dam."

"That was the Legion breaching the Dam's defences. As long as they're alive, we'll be fine, but until then I'm taking the point." Readfield leads everyone towards the Legate's Camp, taking the centre role.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." David followed Redfield with Cass. "This feels just like the B.O.W. trade."

Boone smiled. "What an honour to follow the General to battle."

"You're a real fanboy, aren't you?"

"Hardly." Boone and Veronica followed after David. They bickered mostly along the way, and it was all purely for humour.

"Everyone good on ammo? Need any meds?" Redfield asked.

"I don't think we ran into anything too serious."

"Boone, Cass, you two good?"

"We're both fine, sir."

"With the gang all here what else do we need?"

"Glad to hear it."

"This power armour is something else Dad. Taken massive damage but it's still feeling brand new."

Boone stopped for a moment and glared at the back of David's person. "Dad?"

"Agent Wesker is my son, Mr Boone," Redfield said, loud enough to be heard by Boone. He was still a couple of steps behind the group. "Don't let it get to your head.

Boone nodded and carried on walking. "Suppose it makes a lot of sense," he mumbled. "You being so close."

"About the armour Son... That would be thanks to layers of coltan and diamond coating; they help deflect conventional damage if they lack impact to surpass it."

"Nice."

"When we storm the camp I want all Legionaries eliminated on sight."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, sir."

"God only knows what shit William and Lyannah got dragged into."


	10. Lyannah's abuse to Lanius

In the Legate's simple tent, Legate Lanius was working on his bumper sword; thanks to a certain woman that sliced it in half. He was having minor difficulties making it whole again. With the sword detached from the hilt, it took more than a splint to fix it anew. The scuffle with the woman left his metal helmet also fractured, that needed a fix too. The visor inside his helmet was obscure, and the metal horns were broken off.

Gave plenty of time to reflect on the fight he had with Lyannah and William moments prior. He incapacitated Will with no effort but the mysterious woman that managed to take him down and ruin his bumper sword and helmet. That was nothing short than impressive and unique for a child. Though it took more than a warrior doped on psycho to defeat him, Lanius captured her and tied her down in the corner of his tent behind him, gagged her to his liking. Chained and anchored to the ground.

Lanius approached Lyannah once more and ungagged her, to hear her pitiful threats and insults. She was severely wounded to even try, after a bullet to her gut, shoulder and chest and bareboned hands and knuckles, her being a wreck was an understatement. It would only take a stimpak and a shot of psycho from William to bring her up to speed until most of the effects worn off. Lanius had bandaged her up and fixed her wounds while she was phasing in and out of the withdraw symptoms, that way she couldn't resist.

"Where did a child like you learn to fight in the manner you did?" he asked, before Lyannah. "You were drugged on psycho, but that alone couldn't make you any better than before. Just faster and psychotic. Where did you learn to fight like that, woman?"

"There's no secret," she stated, with a grim smile and a cocky glare, speaking harshly. "I was always this good."

"Hardly amusing." Lanius folded his arms and glared at Lyannah furiously. "That is a lie!" he barked, pacing around in front of her, getting more wound up. "Don't make me repeat my question, woman."

With burning hatred for the monster that is known as Legate Lanius, Lyannah's tone of voice went south and came back full of determination and rage. "You'll get nothing out of me monster. Just because you patched me up doesn't mean I owe you anything but a slow and painful death!" she explained, through her bloody clenched teeth.

Lyannah spat blood on Lanius' boot, insulting him for a brief moment. Lanius clutched her by the throat, not hard enough to leave a mark but just adequate to force her attention to his ungainly metal helmet. "I didn't quite catch that; maybe you should change your attitude to a more submissive one; tend to kill people with an attitude like yours woman," he calmly declared, squatting down to her face. "It may have escaped your notice, but I only healed your wounds because I'm not finished with you yet. You hold the key to my ambition, and I won't let anything get in the way of that."

"Then you're going to be sorely disappointed… You'll get what's coming to you sometime soon, Lanius. I'll break free, and I'll see to that myself!" she uttered.

"Is that a bet?"

"A promise…"

"You're hardly in the position to make idle threats, child." He chuckled, and stood back up, letting her go and looking down on her. "I will achieve my ambition with or without you; your survival is not a factor."

"You're ambition?!" she said, with moderate curiosity, looking up to him with a faint sense of fear from the unknown. "And your ambition has what to do with me? Dare I ask? If my survival isn't a factor why do you waste my time?"

"To liberate humanity and rule them as a God!" he boasted. "That is why I'm wasting your time." He reached over his broken bumper sword to clutch Lyannah's ebony blade and stared back at her with bloody intentions. "Biology and virology will only go so far to help me make the ultimate warrior. With a moderate chance of perfection, it's essentially a fair gamble. I'm thinking of a more natural approach. I just so happen to have a very nubile woman in my tent. I'll give you a hint: she's ovulating, cunning and very powerful. Perfect, wouldn't you say?"

"I'd rather die than be your slave, you cretinous peon!" she shouted, raising her voice. She was trying to stand, blistering rage clouding her judgement she just remembered she was tied down by chains. She couldn't move. The chains back in Skyrim were significantly weaker than the ones Lanius used on her right now.

With a flourish, Lanius twisted his body and slashed the air by Lyannah's face, just missing the bridge of her nose by less than a millimetre. She wasn't impressed with Lanius' accuracy whatsoever and just glared at him with disgust. "You'd like me to kill you, wouldn't you? To die, and not satisfy me or my research."

He wagged his finger disapprovingly. What a mock it was to her like she wasn't degraded enough as it is. A powerful Higher Being, tied down like a piece of meat by an alleged enslaving monster. "That was me, wagging my finger," he continued to say, kneelling down to her. "I never go for the kill when I can go for the hurt. Like I said… I'm not quite finished with you, not without realising my ambition," he boasted, inching closer in front of her, leaning on her sword. "Why fight the obvious?"

He rubbed Lyannah's left cheek with his hand, slowly in a circular motion. The very feel disgusted her, visually and literally. What was strange she shuddered in delight after the first few seconds. She shrugged that off quickly, hoping it didn't tempt him to rub other parts of her. "You and I can create the strongest of soldiers this world has ever seen, and there were already some powerful ones long before this our reigns… but they were manufactured. We're not animals like they were, though, we're different. Which is why you and I are going to breed this new race the right way… the best way. All natural with the best of both of our abilities."

"You even think about touching me I swear to Talos I'll gut you," she calmly but otherwise snarled to his face.

"I already did, forgot about that already?" He relaxed his body and opened himself up for anything. Moving his arms out and staring at Lyannah, challenging her. "Guess you're gonna gut me now. Go on then. Gut me." Lyannah threw herself at Lanius, using any and all of her Dragonborn strength and speed. She kept pulling and pulling. Pulling... Then nothing. She moved as fast and as strong as she could and then nothing. Didn't even make Lanius flinch. "That's what I thought," he said.

Even if she used any dragon shouts there would be no guarantee if any of them would free her. Some could make matters worse. "What kind of chains are these?" she questioned softly to herself. Staring down at the smooth chains that tied her down. They looked like they were new. Were they metal? Some kind of steel? What's strong enough to restrain a Dragonborn? "Chains can't hold me…"

"In time you'll come to your senses. After all, I'm one of, if not, the most virile beings in this pitiful wasteland. Might be a wondrous experience in your miserable life," he calmly responded, tugging his shoulder and changing his tone to a more pleasant one. "It's considered a rare honour to be my slave, might even come to enjoy it. Between you and me I don't treat profligates as bad as these Roman morons do, then again, they don't treat theirs as bad as I satisfy mine... That's fair. But they can't offer you to be the mother of the new world and queen of the Wasteland."

"If you're trying to charm me asshole it's not working," she snidely and reluctantly confessed. Even though Lanius was generally... okay, it still made her sick to her stomach.

"I'm not trying to woo you, woman. Do you see a romantic dinner? French wine? No? I'm merely pointing out what plans I have for you, considering you have a big part in it all. I'm too much of a heartless wretch to care for emotions," he said with a sarcastic tone, walking back to his table. His bumper sword needed repairing, and his revolvers needed reloading. Lanius started with his sword. He placed his blade on an anvil and had a blowtorch in hand. Sparks flew as the fracture in the blade slowly disappeared and fused back together.

"You see, we were wrong to manufacture supersoldiers. Why didn't we think about breeding in the first place? It's an impeccable idea itself." He checked down the length of his newly fixed blade. It was a clumsy piece of metal with some leather straps, but it was a firm weapon with a sharp edge and an even sharper thrust. "Just find the right matches and let it work a bit more naturally."

Lanius spent some time looking at the state of his weapons. He had four revolvers, all loaded with high calibre .45-70 Gov't magnum shells. They rested on the table with two empty ones. After some reloading and welding of the weapons, they were ready without any hassle. The bumper sword was snug sheathed on his backside, and his loaded revolvers were all holstered three by three on each side of his hip between his belts. Quick draws lead to more kills per second.

Though the dark sword Lyannah used on him wouldn't leave his mind, it was sharp enough to draw blood upon a light touch, yet light and tender enough to be wielded by a child. He placed her ebony blade on the wooden table and checked it out furiously. The sharp edge was slender with the other end only being a tiny bit thicker to allow the ability to hack and cleave, without losing any thrusting potential.

The dark black metal wasn't Earthly origins. Lanius knew the world wasn't always _normal_ but whatever the material is, and the one who fights with it has some explaining to do. "This sword you fought with earlier, the metal is not of this world. The ease it had slicing through mine in two is exceptional at that. Where on Earth did you find this elegant weapon?" he politely demanded.

"My own craftsmanship. If you want another demonstration, I'll be more than happy to stab you with it again."

"Cute," he chuckled. He took the ebony sword from the table and stepped to Lyannah, holding her chin up with the tip of her sword. "I witnessed your power on the Dam, the part when you crippled one of my small groups on the field. I personally found it hilarious. Although mangling them to that degree combined with the effectiveness of your weapon and your fighting capabilities demands some investigation. I will say this once: what are you and where do you come from?"

"You know nothing about me, and I'll keep it that way!" she barked.

"That's a shame. You see I have a thing where I need to know everything that relates to me. Seeing that we'll be properly acquainted later I need to know who I'm working with," he confessed, sheathing her sword into an open space on his belt. "With the magnitude of your power and strength with my own, our children would surpass even MY expectations! I underestimated your potential at first, but after some thoughts, our new breed of soldiers could easily overthrow humanity's reign across this globe. With me as their God, and you as my plaything… That's _if_ you turn down the chance to rule as my queen."

"Y… You disgusting perverted FREAK! There is no way in Oblivion nor Sovngarde I will tolerate this!" she screamed, with short breaths thereafter, she spoke harshly. "When I get loose I'll tear you to shreds!"

"Who's letting you loose? Me? Ha! Until you learn to respect and obedience one way or another I'm keeping you the way you are. Or until we get started," he chuckled. "You might even prefer to keep the chains."

"How can you be so sure your ambition will succeed?"

Lanius gagged Lyannah once more with a white rag. Her voice was silent. "Think of our children being mankind's genetic superiors. They'll adapt and take their rightful place in human evolution."

Two Legionaries entered the tent; it was Lanius' personal subordinates he picked out himself. Braces, the large man with massive strength, the one in primitive Legion power armour. Eight feet in height. Bowman, a skilled rifleman with humour and attitude like his own, the one in Centurion armour. Tall but small in comparison. Lanius picked out from a Raider group known as the Fiends. They were too good to be paired with junkies, so he hired them to be his personal bodyguards.

"Sir. A small group are approaching the camp; General Redfield is with them, and there are two others in power armour." Bowman announced.

"Redfield!? Today is a perfect day for us all indeed!" Lanius cheered and sheathing his bumper sword on his back. Ready for combat. "Stage another ambush just like the last and kill them on sight."

"With pleasure," Braces snickered. "Shame Six won't be joining us."

"Fuck him. He's been a major pain in our asses since we ever met him," Bowman added. "Glad he's gone."

"That courier is of no concern to me, only his woman, but should any of you decide to rape this woman - because I know you both have a habit - I _will_ kill you. Is that understood? She is mine. Nobody else's, MINE!"

"Anything you say, boss," Braces said.

"Why do they call you Braces? Sorry, it's just... Braces." Braces smiled, showing crude braces. They were made of barbed wire and personally applied. "Ah! Should've thought. I heard you made those yourself. I can see the... craftsmanship..." He slowly stared down to Lyannah. "Well as much as I would love to begin on our work... it'll have to wait for now. I want to see General Redfield die in my camp like the dog he is," he noted with a chuckle, before leaving the tent with Braces and Bowman. At this point in her capture, Lyannah would stay confident that her ex-wife would come to her rescue. Killing her was a huge inconvenience.


End file.
